- Tuesday, October 03, 2023
CRICKET owes Azeem Rafiq and Lord Kamlesh Patel of Bradford an apology for the way they were treated in exposing and trying to overcome racism in cricket, the chair of an independent inquiry has told Eastern Eye. After a two-and-a-half-year review of the sport, the Independent Commission for Equity in…
The former Yorkshire chairman, Colin Graves, has been criticised by England cricket chiefs for claiming that incidents of racism at his former club were “banter”. Last month, six former Yorkshire players who were found guilty of using racist language in the Azeem Rafiq case, were fined by the Cricket Discipline…
Mahant Swami Maharaj led tributes to celebrate the historic Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London on Saturday, (06) a press release informed. Jitu Patel, Chair of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha UK, was also invited along with other senior faith leaders to greet the…
MICHAEL VAUGHAN's lawyer said allegations of racism made against the former England captain by Azeem Rafiq are "word against word" at a hearing in London on Thursday (2). Pakistan-born Rafiq, 32, first raised allegations of racism and bullying in September 2020, related to his two spells at Yorkshire County Cricket…
YORKSHIRE have confirmed documents and data relating to allegations of racism against the county cricket club were deleted or lost during the tenure of a previous regime. Yorkshire had admitted to four amended charges brought by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) after an investigation into racism claims by…
A “small and privileged” unnamed racist group has cost Yorkshire County Cricket Club millions of pounds in sponsorship and legal fees, and it is one of the reasons why Lord Patel of Bradford is walking away from the game he loves. In an exclusive interview, Patel told Eastern Eye that…
Former England star Michael Vaughan has offered to bear the travel expenses of Adil Rashid to enable the leg-spinner to appear for the upcoming hearing of Yorkshire’s racism scandal.Vaughan chose to defend himself against the allegation of racism made by former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq while five other individuals charged…
Yorkshire County Cricket Club has admitted liability to four amended charges including a failure to address and take adequate action against racist and discriminatory language, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Tuesday (7). Yorkshire and a number of individuals were charged by the ECB in June after…
Lord Kamlesh Patel will step down from his role as Yorkshire County Cricket Club chairman in March, the club said on Friday. Patel, 62, took over from Roger Hutton in November 2021 with the club in crisis and was tasked with navigating them through a racism scandal involving Azeem Rafiq.…
YORKSHIRE County Cricket Club chair Lord Kamlesh Patel said a “very small minority” of people at the organisation are still in denial about what went wrong with it.Yorkshire members approved a package of reforms last month following a racism scandal, paving the way for lucrative England matches to be played…
INDIA's Clean Slate Studioz has unveiled a series of new initiatives as part of its principal partnership deal with Yorkshire county cricket club including funding free cricket kits for young female cricketers. The announcements were made during the official unveiling of the Clean Slate branding on the east stand and…
When we heard the compelling testimony of former Yorkshire cricketer, Azeem Rafiq, in front of the sport select committee last November, few people of colour would’ve been surprised. We know the racism we face on an almost daily basis. We know the fact our complaints are excused as banter. We…
ENGLISH cricket has been through its “annus horribilis” partly due to the poor performance of Joe Root’s Test team, but mainly because of the revelations about the racism suffered by Azeem Rafiq at Yorkshire, it has been stated in Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 2022. The expression was famously used by the…
THE England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will charge up to 12 former Yorkshire staff in connection with the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal, it was reported on Monday (11). The ECB announced their investigation into Yorkshire's handling of Rafiq's allegations in November 2021 after receiving the club's report on the…
YORKSHIRE County Cricket Club (YCCC) aspires to be a "beacon of hope" for diversity in English cricket, its chairman Kamlesh Patel has said. The club was rocked by a racism scandal last year after Azeem Rafiq, a former England under-19 captain of Pakistani descent, alleged that he had been a…
Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan has signed to play for Yorkshire in the Twenty20 Blast, the English county announced Friday. The 23-year-old leg-spinner will be available for the club's first five and last six fixtures of the domestic T20 competition. Shadab has represented Pakistan in all three international formats, including 64…
YORKSHIRE County Cricket Club can continue to host international cricket at Headingley after its members voted in favour of governance reforms on Thursday (31), meeting the conditions set out by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Yorkshire were barred from staging internationals in the wake of a racism scandal…
WOMEN are very much on the move – rising to roles not previously seen before and smashing glass ceilings in the process. The GG2 Power List was unveiled on Tuesday (8) evening at Eastern Eye publisher AMG’s high-profile and glittering GG2 Leadership & Diversity Awards, where the role of highflying women…
THE England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have pledged around £1million to install multi-faith prayer rooms at every county cricket ground before the season starts, according to a media report said. The ECB is providing the grant as part of their attempt to improve the diversity of the sport, reported…
YORKSHIRE CRICKET CLUB is in soup again as four former employees have taken the county to the court. It is believed the legal dispute could hit the finances of the club after staff were sacked following former player Azeem Rafiq's testimonial on racist abuse he faced at the club during…
THE England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) lifted an international match ban on Yorkshire County Cricket Club on Friday (11) subject to further requirements, in the wake of a racism scandal involving former player Azeem Rafiq. Yorkshire were barred from hosting any international games after Rafiq, a player of Pakistani…
Yorkshire chair Kamlesh Patel claimed on Thursday reform at the troubled English county is being derailed by a group concerned that the club will be "sacrificed on the altar of Black Lives Matter". Patel took charge at Yorkshire in the wake of the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal that rocked English…
ENGLISH cricket club Yorkshire announced on Wednesday (19) they had appointed former West Indies allrounder Ottis Gibson as their new head coach on a three-year deal. The 52-year-old replaces Andrew Gale, who left the county club along with the rest of the coaching staff in the fallout from a damaging…
PUBLIC MONEY should be withheld from cricket unless the sport makes clear progress in rooting out "deep-seated" racism brought to light by a scandal at Yorkshire, British lawmakers said on Friday (14). Former player Azeem Rafiq, 30, delivered harrowing testimony to MPs in November in which he said his career…
AZEEM RAFIQ said the ban on Yorkshire from hosting internationals over the handling of his racism allegations should be lifted as the county club is taking steps in the right direction to bring about change. In November, the 30-year-old former England under-19 captain, who is of Pakistani descent and played…
Yorkshire announced on Tuesday they had formed a partnership with Pakistan Super League team Lahore Qalandars that includes a player exchange programme following a damaging racism scandal at the English club. Pakistan-born former player Azeem Rafiq accused Yorkshire of failing to deal adequately with his allegations of abuse while at…
All members of Yorkshire's coaching team have left, including director of cricket Martyn Moxon and coach Andrew Gale, the club said on Friday as it vowed to regain trust and rebuild after being rocked by allegations of institutional racism. First team coach and former captain Gale was suspended last month…
THE British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is adopting a stricter position on the use of racist language in programmes, The Guardian reported. The UK regulator said programmes featuring the N-word should not be classified lower than 12A/12 unless in exceptional circumstances, such as a documentary or biopic with a…
FORMER Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq broke down in tears on Tuesday (16) as he told a British parliamentary committee of "inhuman" treatment at the cricket club and described the sport in England as riddled with racism. In more than an hour of questioning by members of parliament, Rafiq, 30, an…
YORKSHIRE chief executive Mark Arthur has resigned with immediate effect in the latest fallout from the allegations of institutional racism made by former player Azeem Rafiq, the club said in a statement on Thursday (11). The club have appointed Paul Hudson as interim chief executive. "Today (11 November) the Board…
A hilly landscape dotted with serried terraced housing, mill chimneys, church spires and mosque minarets reflects the industrial past and multicultural present of Bradford. But a racism row at local county cricket team Yorkshire has shattered trust between the club and its diverse fanbase in the northern English city. Yorkshire…
ENGLAND captain Joe Root on Thursday demanded change after a racism row engulfed Yorkshire County Cricket Club, saying the events had "fractured our game and torn lives apart". Root, who is currently in Australia leading England's Ashes preparations, issued his statement following weeks of escalating pressure at the club he…
Cricket’s governing body, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), must immediately investigate racism at all levels of the sport. That is the demand from Bradford West MP, Naz Shah. Speaking exclusively to Eastern Eye, Shah said that the game was institutionally, structurally and systemically racist, and the problem went…
ENGLAND all-rounder Moeen Ali said he was not surprised by the allegations of racism made by Azeem Rafiq against Yorkshire Cricket Club but hopes the issue will lead to change in the sport. Rafiq, who is of Pakistani descent and a former captain of the England Under-19s, said in September…
By Sunder Katwala Director, British Future thinktank ‘That word – the ‘P**i’ word – has real meaning for me. I don’t need to be told it’s not banter’, said Lord Kamlesh Patel, after becoming the new chair of Yorkshire County Cricket Club because the county’s leadership lost all confidence in…
YORKSHIRE COUNTY CRICKET'S new chairman, Lord Kamlesh Patel, on Monday (8) praised Azeem Rafiq for speaking out over racist abuse as he apologised to the former player. Pakistan-born Rafiq accused Yorkshire of failing to deal adequately with racist abuse he suffered while playing for the county, saying he had been…
THE BBC has dropped former England captain Michael Vaughan from a radio show next Monday (8) after he was named in a report looking into allegations of institutional racism at Yorkshire made by former player Azeem Rafiq, the broadcaster said on Friday (5). In a column for The Telegraph on…
By Barnie Choudhury THE Asian Media Group (AMG) and the University of Southampton have teamed up to recognise south Asians who have transformed the UK. Named after the founder of AMG, the Ramniklal Solanki Pioneers Project will tell the life stories of 100 people whose work has left an…
Exclusive By Barnie Choudhury A senior police chief has warned south Asian drug gangsters “we will get you”. Eastern Eye can exclusively reveal that 1,710 Asians are currently in jail for drug related crimes – an overrepresentation of three times their number in the nation’s population. In an exclusive interview,…
England should "definitely" tour Pakistan provided it it is safe to do so, according to new England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Ian Watmore. England have not visited Pakistan since 2005/06. An attack by armed militants on Sri Lanka's team bus in Lahore in 2009 ended major cricket tours…
THE president of Commonwealth member nation Kiribati has “strongly rebuked” British prime minister Boris Johnson over his alleged attempts to “oust” secretary-general Baroness Patricia Scotland. Last month, Eastern Eye revealed how angry high commissioners turned on Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand for their “neocolonial” attempts to withhold voluntary funding for…
A NUMBER of angry high commissioners have turned on Australia, Britain and Canada for trying to get rid of Commonwealth secretary-general Patricia Scotland, it can be revealed. Commonwealth insiders told Eastern Eye that in a “fractious” meeting at the secretariat’s headquarters in London last Thursday (6), one envoy after another…
The UK government on Wednesday (12) confirmed that it has withheld its estimated £4.7 million voluntary contribution to a key Commonwealth fund amid concerns over procurement policies within the Commonwealth Secretariat in London. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said that funding to the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC)…
‘INSPIRATIONAL’ leaders at the GG2 Leadership Awards 2019 showed that minorities can reach their full potential. GG2 Hammer Award: Nitin Paranjpe, COO, Unilever AS COO, Nitin Paranpje heads one of the world’s major consumer business giants. Paranjpe, 56, started as a trainee working for Unilever’s Indian subsidiary. He was appointed…
By Sarwar Alam CRICKET chiefs in Britain have said diversity was key to the England team’s historic World Cup win last weekend as they spoke of securing the game’s future for the next generation of fans in the UK. An estimated 8.3 million people were glued to their TV screens…
By Sarwar Alam CRICKET can be a catalyst to transform the health and well-being of South Asian communities, an influential member of the English Cricket Board (ECB) has said. Lord Kamlesh Patel of Bradford is the chair of ECB South Asian Advisory Group. At the launch of an Urban Cricket…
Aspiring young South Asian cricketers have the chance to sharpen their talent after the ECB tied up with the Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation to run a pilot cricket scholarship project next year. The foundation offers young people from disadvantaged and vulnerable backgrounds bursaries in state and independent boarding schools.…
ECB’S ACTION PLAN ‘WILL CHANGE BRITAIN’S CRICKETING CULTURE’ [caption id="attachment_39322" align="alignleft" width="175"] by LORD KAMLESH PATEL[/caption] IT WAS as a boy growing up in the Great Horton area of Bradford as a first-generation British Asian that I first fell in love with cricket. I remember playing with friends, family and…
By Sarwar Alam ECB action plan designed to widen south Asian appeal A NEW initiative by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) aims to increase the game’s appeal among south Asians and “transform” the game in the community, with the project’s head, Lord Patel of Bradford, describing it as…
HIGH-ACHIEVING British Asians have revealed one of the keys to their success – waking up early. They told Eastern Eye they follow the idea that the early bird catches the worm, with many getting out of bed between 4am and 6am every day. Doctors, entrepreneurs and chefs said they use…