Cricket

[ainsworth74]

he's a Yorkshire fan

Speaking of Yorkshire this snuck out this morning during all the hullaballoo in Manchester:

Azeem Rafiq was the "victim of racial harassment and bullying," according to the findings released from a report by his former club Yorkshire.

Last year, Rafiq, 30, had claimed "institutional racism" at the club left him close to taking his own life.
Seven of the 43 allegations made by the player have been upheld by an independent panel.

Yorkshire chair Roger Hutton offered the club's "profound and unreserved apologies" to Rafiq and his family.

"There is no question that Azeem Rafiq, during his first spell as a player at YCCC, was the victim of racial harassment," Hutton said in a statement. "He was also subsequently the victim of bullying."

Yorkshire have released a summary of the panel's report and recommendations but said the full report can not be released for legal reasons "in relation to privacy law and defamation".

According to Hutton, the report said there was "insufficient evidence to conclude that Yorkshire County Cricket Club is institutionally racist."

The report findings said: "The panel were unanimous in concluding that it could not reach a finding of institutional racism on the basis of insufficient evidence and the panel was not reaching a conclusion that there was no evidence of institutional racism."

What do the findings say?​

Yorkshire say the the majority of the allegations were not upheld due to "insufficient evidence".

The enquiry conducted 29 interviews with 26 witnesses, but the club said "many individuals" declined to participate which "impacted on its ability to make conclusive findings one way or another."

The seven allegations upheld were:

• When Rafiq was playing junior cricket for Yorkshire, he was not provided with halal food at matches. This has now been rectified.
• [Relating to the period prior to 2010], the panel found that there were three separate incidents of racist language being used by former players which were found to be harassment on the grounds of race.
• Before 2012 a former coach regularly used racist language.
• During his second spell at Yorkshire between 2016 and 2018 there were jokes made around religion which made individuals uncomfortable about their religious practices.
• During his second spell at the club, a former player made references to Azeem Rafiq's weight and fitness that amounted to bullying.
• In August 2018, when Azeem Rafiq raised concerns of racism there was a failure by the club to follow its own policy or investigate these allegations.
• On a number of occasions prior to 2018 the club could have done more to make Muslims more welcome within their stadiums and should have dealt better with complaints of racist or anti-social behaviour within those stadiums.

The report added that is "did not find that any decisions by the coaching staff or the Club, relating either to Azeem's inclusion within a team or his ultimate release from the Club was for anything other than cricketing reasons."

...

'Rafiq was victim of racial harassment'

Azeem Rafiq was the "victim of racial harassment and bullying," according to the findings of a report released by his former club Yorkshire.

www.bbc.co.uk

The summary report can be found here.

 

[DelW]

... he's a Yorkshire fan, but he'll recover soon. ...

I always thought that condition was terminal

 

[SteveM70]

Jonathan Agnew is spot on. There’s an enormous IPL-shaped elephant in the room

 

[DelW]

I suppose we should be glad that the ECB didn't follow the example of the FIA at Spa ....
They'd have done the coin toss, awarded the match to whichever captain won, and told the spectators that there'd be no refunds because the "match" had taken place and a result had been achieved.

 

[Arglwydd Golau]

Was on my way to Old Trafford this morning, just before Chester Services someone looked at their 'phone an it was an 'Oh S***' moment.
Had a coffee and returned home just in time for 11 o'clock!
Feel as well for all those staff on zero hours contracts who would have been taken on to provide all the essential services that are required at a Test Match these days.
....and yes, as others have said, it must be all down to the IPL, didn't the BCCI want the test scrapped about six weeks ago?

 

[geoffk]

Was on my way to Old Trafford this morning, just before Chester Services someone looked at their 'phone an it was an 'Oh S***' moment.
Had a coffee and returned home just in time for 11 o'clock!
Feel as well for all those staff on zero hours contracts who would have been taken on to provide all the essential services that are required at a Test Match these days.
....and yes, as others have said, it must be all down to the IPL, didn't the BCCI want the test scrapped about six weeks ago?

Test cricket no longer a priority, I'm afraid.

 

[Spamcan81]

No it shouldnt. It should be declared as per the rules. India failed to put a team out. The match hasnt been cancelled


England were awful in this series but india didnt show up today. I suspect the IPL money has a lot to do with it.

Dead right it has. A disgraceful decision by India. They should be made to compensate all those who have lost put because of the cancellation but sadly I doubt it will happen.

 

[birchesgreen]

They should have gone ahead with the test but timed out all the Indian batsmen, if nothing else it would have resulted in the geekiest scorecard ever.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Why was there a need to change the County Championship two-division structure....or am I being confused seeing three (?) table groupings?

 

[birchesgreen]

Sir Cook did some bowling today, most entertaining. I was looking at his bowling stats and he apparently has 8 F/C wickets including one in a test, i can't remember that one.

 

[Bald Rick]

Sir Cook did some bowling today, most entertaining. I was looking at his bowling stats and he apparently has 8 F/C wickets including one in a test, i can't remember that one.

Ishant Sharma, Trent Bridge, 2014. A rank leg side delivery. Quite amusing. He has a test bowling average of 7, and often mentions it on TMS!

 

[SteveM70]

Tremendous result at Leicester. Leicestershire were in a dominant position after two days, but lost day 3 to rain, and today’s start was delayed. Nevermind, they cracked on with career high scores for Hassan Azad and Lewis Hill (on the day he was awarded his county cap) and quick runs from Harry Swindells and Louis Kimber, before declaring to leave Sussex 133 behind on first innings and needing to bat out 45 overs for a draw.

Sussex looked comfortable, and then imploded, losing 6 wickets for 11 runs to lose by an innings and 5 runs with 14 balls to spare. Talk about a perfectly timed declaration!

 

[birchesgreen]

Ishant Sharma, Trent Bridge, 2014. A rank leg side delivery. Quite amusing. He has a test bowling average of 7, and often mentions it on TMS!

We missed a trick, should have had him in the recent series!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Going back to my childhood years, round about the 1950s period, England played a Test Match series against the West Indies, which was commemorated by a record...."Cricket Calypso". I still remember snatches of it.....

"Cricket, lovely Cricket,
At Lords where I saw it,
Cricket, lovely Cricket,
At Lords where I saw it,
Yardley tried his best
But Goddard won the Test.
They gave the crowd plenty fun,
Second Test and West Indies won."

There was a chorus, of which I am not sure of the correct words, something of the order of...

"I'll tell you of those two friends of mine,
Rahmadin and Valentine"

Any of the old uns on this thread remember it?

 

[DarloRich]

England tour of Pakistan under review after New Zealand pull out of thier tour due to security concerns.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Is that because of security in general or Covid in particular?

 

[ainsworth74]

Is that because of security in general or Covid in particular?

Sounded like security of a violent nature rather than Covid from I've been reading on Cricinfo earlier.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Sounded like security of a violent nature rather than Covid from I've been reading on Cricinfo earlier.

Ah, thanks; that's what has stopped everyone going there for so many years, isn't it.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Pakistan was the country where in March 2009, the touring Sri Lankan cricket team coach en route to play the second Test Match was attacked by 12 gunmen at Lahore.

 

[ainsworth74]

Ah, thanks; that's what has stopped everyone going there for so many years, isn't it.

Indeed it is. Since the attack against the Sri Lanka team back in 2009 basically no-one has toured Pakistan. The New Zealand tour and the upcoming England tours were the big hopes for getting Pakistan back on the international circuit rather than having all their "home" games in the UAE.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Indeed it is. Since the attack against the Sri Lanka team back in 2009 basically no-one has toured Pakistan. The New Zealand tour and the upcoming England tours were the big hopes for getting Pakistan back on the international circuit rather than having all their "home" games in the UAE.

Yes, I remember some interviews with a couple of the Pakistan Cricket Board officials on TMS last year about their plans, which seemed to be quite advanced. There was a real hope then that these tours would go ahead, but it seems that they've been dashed.

 

[Busaholic]

Going back to my childhood years, round about the 1950s period, England played a Test Match series against the West Indies, which was commemorated by a record...."Cricket Calypso". I still remember snatches of it.....

"Cricket, lovely Cricket,
At Lords where I saw it,
Cricket, lovely Cricket,
At Lords where I saw it,
Yardley tried his best
But Goddard won the Test.
They gave the crowd plenty fun,
Second Test and West Indies won."

There was a chorus, of which I am not sure of the correct words, something of the order of...

"I'll tell you of those two friends of mine,
Rahmadin and Valentine"

Any of the old uns on this thread remember it?

Remember it well, but not quite from 1950, when it was composed after West Indies beat England in the Lords test. Sonny Ramadhin made his home in Britain and is still alive, having played in the Lancashire Leagues for many years before becoming a publican in the county (Nelson?). His grandson is Kyle Hogg who played for Lancs as a fast medium bowler, and had his moments.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Remember it well, but not quite from 1950, when it was composed after West Indies beat England in the Lords test. Sonny Ramadhin made his home in Britain and is still alive, having played in the Lancashire Leagues for many years before becoming a publican in the county (Nelson?). His grandson is Kyle Hogg who played for Lancs as a fast medium bowler, and had his moments.

My best Lancashire bowling memory was of Kyle Hogg and Glen Chapple being the seamers who reduced Essex to 20 all out in their second innings against Lancashire in that never-to-be-forgotten match. I think six lbw were registered.

My best Lancashire batting memory was of Alviro Petersen (286) and Ashwell Prince (261) putting on 501 for the third wicket against Glamorgan, who deserved it for pretending that Colwyn Bay was part of Glamorgan.

 

[Cletus]

Kent win this years T20 competition- very happy

 

[birchesgreen]

Very good performance, great game!

 

[Arglwydd Golau]

.....putting on 501 for the third wicket against Glamorgan, who deserved it for pretending that Colwyn Bay was part of Glamorgan.

I like that! But it did set me wondering how many other first class counties have played outside their (original) county boundary.
Without looking anything up on Cricinfo, I surmise that Leicestershire might have played in Rutland and Northants in Bedford, but not sure if memory is playing tricks! Glamorgan have played in many grounds over Wales I think. Anyone else have better recall?
(....and Glamorgan playing Lancashire in Colwyn Bay does give Lancs supporters the opportunity to have a pleasant day out by the sea!)

I watched most of the Blast Finals day yesterday, not a great fan at all of this form of the game but enjoyable nevertheless...Jordan Cox pulled off an amazing piece of fielding that led to a simple catch...in days gone by this and his innings for Kent might have earned him selection for the winter tour, when the Gillette/Nat West cup was the end of season showcase a good performance would lead to the selectors taking note...I'm sure that there were a few leftfield choices but I can only remember Geoff Cook the Northants opener in the 1980's

 

[Busaholic]

I like that! But it did set me wondering how many other first class counties have played outside their (original) county boundary.
Without looking anything up on Cricinfo, I surmise that Leicestershire might have played in Rutland and Northants in Bedford, but not sure if memory is playing tricks! Glamorgan have played in many grounds over Wales I think. Anyone else have better recall?
(....and Glamorgan playing Lancashire in Colwyn Bay does give Lancs supporters the opportunity to have a pleasant day out by the sea!)

I watched most of the Blast Finals day yesterday, not a great fan at all of this form of the game but enjoyable nevertheless...Jordan Cox pulled off an amazing piece of fielding that led to a simple catch...in days gone by this and his innings for Kent might have earned him selection for the winter tour, when the Gillette/Nat West cup was the end of season showcase a good performance would lead to the selectors taking note...I'm sure that there were a few leftfield choices but I can only remember Geoff Cook the Northants opener in the 1980's

Middlesex's first ever county T20 match against Kent in 2003 was played in Richmond, which was always in Surrey before becoming part of Greater London: I believe their first ever match was played in Islington, which I find hard to believe was ever in Middlesex, but maybe it was a couple of centuries ago. Leics I can remember playing in Oakham, so you're right there, but I've a feeling they played in another county too.

A young Mark Ramprakash's performance in the NatWest Final one year (on BBC TV in those days) certainly led to his early selection as a test cricketer, perhaps, in retrospect, too early. Leicestershire's dominant position in both Benson and Hedges and Gillette Cups in the 1970s under Ray Illingworth might have introduced David Gower's batting to a wider public too, and his selection, because to be honest he never did anything as a county cricketer!

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Glamorgan have played at many grounds outside the old county of the same name and it's variations. Some that I can think of (and they weren't all first class matches) are Newport, Abergavenny, Ebbw Vale (all Gwent), Llanelli (Carmarthenshire) Aberystwyth (Ceredigion) and Colwyn Bay (Clwyd). The county has always sought to represent the whole of Wales; sometimes it's worked, sometimes not, but that's a topic for another day.

 

[Typhoon]

I like that! But it did set me wondering how many other first class counties have played outside their (original) county boundary.
Without looking anything up on Cricinfo, I surmise that Leicestershire might have played in Rutland and Northants in Bedford, but not sure if memory is playing tricks! Glamorgan have played in many grounds over Wales I think. Anyone else have better recall?
(....and Glamorgan playing Lancashire in Colwyn Bay does give Lancs supporters the opportunity to have a pleasant day out by the sea!)

I watched most of the Blast Finals day yesterday, not a great fan at all of this form of the game but enjoyable nevertheless...Jordan Cox pulled off an amazing piece of fielding that led to a simple catch...in days gone by this and his innings for Kent might have earned him selection for the winter tour, when the Gillette/Nat West cup was the end of season showcase a good performance would lead to the selectors taking note...I'm sure that there were a few leftfield choices but I can only remember Geoff Cook the Northants opener in the 1980's

I seem to remember at one time both Gloucestershire and Somerset played matches in Bristol. One of them (I guess Somerset) played at the Imperial Tobacco Ground, rather ironically.

The fielding in the T20 and Hundred (men and women) has really been top rate (discounting Bell-Drummond's sliding tackle).

I'm not certain whether it is worth taking anyone on the strength of a T20 performance. I'm not certain whether Cox would have played if Alex Blake had been fit; he's only 20, needs to get more cricket under his belt. I don't know if there is a Lions tour, if so, that might be a possible.

 

[Busaholic]

Glamorgan have played at many grounds outside the old county of the same name and it's variations. Some that I can think of (and they weren't all first class matches) are Newport, Abergavenny, Ebbw Vale (all Gwent), Llanelli (Carmarthenshire) Aberystwyth (Ceredigion) and Colwyn Bay (Clwyd). The county has always sought to represent the whole of Wales; sometimes it's worked, sometimes not, but that's a topic for another day.

Worcestershire have played matches at Hereford, both in living memory and much earlier, and I don't think they were because New Road had been flooded by the Severn!