It isn’t often that Yorkshire men and women bite their tongues when it comes to cricket. But the tumult of the past few years, Azeem Rafiq’s revelations of what the Cricket Discipline Commission called “a culture of discrimination” at Headingley, the unfair dismissal of 16 members of staff, the docking of Championship points, the heightened emotions, the cruelty of the online spats and the money troubles, oh the money troubles, have all had an effect.
Now a saviour has arrived, looking very much like the old saviour, Colin Graves, he of the rescue bid in 2002, and the club chair from 2007 to 2015. The club are heavily in Graves’s debt and he has offered once again to ride to the rescue – with an instant £1m and another £4m over a five-month period – so long as members vote him in as chair at the EGM at Headingley on Friday morning.
The board has recommended members accept the Graves consortium and the hints are that the postal votes are heavily in his favour. But how to take the temperature among supporters during this wet winter? The Yorkshire Supporters’ Association are silent. The Sheffield Cricket Lovers’ Society are very charming but regretfully decline. There is no one available at Yorkshire CCC or at Bradford Park Avenue. It is hard to blame them.
Of those who are prepared to speak, some, of all stripes, do not want to give their names for fear of reprisals. One resigned his sponsorship and membership after the mass cull of the coaching staff in December 2021. “I am in favour of Colin Graves returning because a simple look at the club’s finances leaves the members no choice and Colin is the logical solution for that. Can he run a cricket club? Absolutely. Is there a club without Colin? Probably not.
“In relation to racism and what happened under Colin’s tenure, there appears to be no evidence to suggest he was party to it, but we need to move forward. Colin is a pragmatic, successful businessman. I’m sure he will continue to develop any improvements that the club may have made about EDI [equality, diversity and inclusion] and community inclusion.”
The same person said Rafiq had apologised for sending antisemitic messages to another player. “That apology has been widely accepted as sincere and genuine. Why then is Colin’s apology [for describing dressing-room abuse as “banter”] not deemed to be the same?”
Another former member, of British Asian heritage, shares the desire for anonymity, but has a different take on Graves’s return. “Headingley was a safe place to be in the 1980s when Leeds United definitely wasn’t for anyone brown or black. I had many happy memories, though you’d hear the P word, the N word sometimes, and the Western Terrace was, and perhaps still is, racist.
“I’m sure Colin Graves is a great businessman but when he said he’s never seen any racism at Yorkshire, I really worry about that. Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall and many thousands of non-white supporters would have a different view.
“If he is the only solution, we need transparency. There were 350 bids? And none of them were viable? His return sends a real message that Yorkshire is returning to type. I love Yorkshire CC, I don’t want it to die, but it’s complicated.
“A lot of people are exhausted by this and want to move forward in a positive way. If Graves returns straight away as chair, the message for the Muslim community, the Asian community, the black community and many of the membership is a poor one. If Colin Graves is the answer, what exactly is the question?”
James Greenfield, the chair of the Wombwell Cricket Lovers’ Society and committee member of the Northern Cricket Society, has been a Yorkshire member since 1971. His take is a pragmatic one. “We know there has been lots of turbulence in the history of Yorkshire cricket, but this has been the most terrifying crisis of all.
“This is the time when we really feared possible extinction and going into administration. There didn’t seem to be any way out – except that I, for one, never believed that Colin Graves would disappear from the scene.
“Certain people said we must not look back but I’ve never understood that. I don’t claim to know Colin Graves at all well, but to have invested all the money that he has in Yorkshire CCC he has to be a cricket nut. Otherwise there must be better ways to invest that money.”
But for Chris Marshall, another longtime fan and past member, the return of Graves does not work from either a business or club cohesion perspective. “There is a feeling of resignation. Too many people have bought the sob story that there is nobody better than Colin Graves. If that’s the truth then the board aren’t very good. If it is true that they’ve looked at 350 enquiries and the best they can get is someone who genuinely benefits if Yorkshire goes bust … I’ve got a pretty strong business background and there are lots of businesses that are saved at the last minute.
“Yorkshire is like a little castle, with everyone worried about defending the moat rather than worrying about what is happening in the castle. But there can’t be any logic in saying that if you bring back someone who is incredibly divisive, it is going to bring peace. The club is just going to remain a warring faction.”
On Friday morning, yet another act opens in this seemingly endless internecine drama.
