Yorkshire: Former chairman Colin Graves vows to vote to support reforms at club EGM this month | Cricket News

Yorkshire will hold an EGM on March 31 after needing to rearrange it on two previous occasions; Conditions need to be met in order for the ECB to lift their suspension on the club hosting international matches

Colin Graves will back reforms at Yorkshire in their EGM later this month

Former Yorkshire chairman Colin Graves has said he will vote to support reforms proposed following the club’s racism crisis at their delayed extraordinary general meeting on March 31.

The England and Wales Cricket Board announced last month that it would lift its suspension on the club hosting major matches provided certain conditions were met by that date.

But pressure started to mount following two aborted previous attempts to hold the EGM after vice-chairman Robin Smith declared the new chairmanship of Lord Kamlesh Patel invalid.

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Yorkshire CCC chairman Lord Patel admits it would be catastrophic if Test cricket were not to return to Headingley.

“As a Yorkshire vice-president and member, I have voted to support the changes as outlined by YCCC to its members,” Graves told the BBC. “I really hope that the legal advice taken by the club on these issues is sound and solid.

“The club now needs to move on, and get back to staging international matches and playing cricket at the highest level in England and Wales.”

The conditions stipulated by the ECB include resolving issues relating to rules changes and decisions at the club, and amending rules relating to board elections, including the removal of Graves Trust powers.

Yorkshire’s financial position has become increasingly precarious in the wake of the departure of a number of major sponsors following Rafiq’s racism and bullying claims, raising the importance of the reforms being voted through.

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Former Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq says there is still a long way to go to combat racism in the sport in the wake of comments made Middlesex chair Mike O’Farrell to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee.

Is Yorkshire’s future under threat?

Julian Metherell, non-executive chair of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, last week accused Smith of “endangering the future of the country” with his comments,

It resulted in a war of words between Lord Patel and Smith, with Yorkshire’s future hinging on the England and Wales Cricket Board restoring its rights to host internationals at Headingley.

An announcement by the ECB last month confirmed its suspension had been lifted but on the provision, certain conditions, which included “resolving the issues relating to rules changes and decisions at the club” and “including removal of Graves Trust powers”.

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Sky Sports’ Tim Thornton reports from Headingley as Yorkshire’s suspension from staging international Test cricket is lifted by the ECB, subject to conditions regarding the running of the club.

PCA’s Metherell offered his support to Lord Patel when he spoke in front of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee in February and reiterated his fears for Yorkshire during an interview with Sportsmail published on Friday.

“The PCA are appalled and astonished by the actions of Robin Smith, whose behaviour is combative and corrosive,” Metherell said.

“He is endangering the future of one of the greatest clubs in England, and the careers of many cricketers and coaches. If the proposed reforms are not voted through at the EGM then the future of a great club is at risk. It’s absolute madness.

“People are losing sight of the fact that we have had serious allegations of bullying and racism upheld. And now we are seeing repeated incidences of threatening behaviour against Kamlesh Patel, who is trying to sort the mess out.”