‘They have failed cricket’ – Michael Holding slams ECB over Yorkshire racism row

Former West Indies cricketer and commentator Michael Holding has slammed the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) over their handling of the Yorkshire racism scandal. The episode started with former club cricketers Azeem Rafiq and Rana Naved-ul Hasan accusing former England captain Michael Vaughan of making racist comments against a bunch of Asian players.

With the controversy being over a serious matter, an investigation from the ECB was initiated.  However, Holding and many others feel ECB hasn’t been handling the issue as it should have. In fact, Yorkshire’s chairman Roger Hutton resigned from his role, reasoning that he didn’t receive proper assistance from the national board over the matter.

“I want to be clear that when I was made aware of Azeem Rafiq’s allegations, I immediately reached out to the ECB to ask for their help and intervention to support a robust inquiry. I was saddened when they declined to help as I felt it was a matter of great importance for the game as a whole,” Hutton was quoted as saying by The Mirror.

“It is a matter of record that I have continually expressed my frustration at the ECB’s reluctance to act,” he had added. As per Hutton, ECB stated that they could not get involved with the initial investigation due to their role of acting as “a regulator across the entire game.” Holding isn’t happy with ECB’s approach over the matter as he believes ECB have failed cricket.

ECB are supposed to be the organization that runs cricket in England: Michael Holding

“The ECB failed Yorkshire and they failed cricket. They are supposed to be the organisation that runs cricket in England. If you are the supreme court, for instance, and one of the lower courts has a problem and comes to you asking for help and you’ve said that’s not your business, that doesn’t work,” Michael Holding was quoted as saying by The Sun.

Meanwhile, ECB on numerous occasions have claimed that they follow the ‘cricket for all’ approach. Hence, there’s no place of racism in the game. However, claims of cricket stars have raised questions over the cricket system in UK. In a recent interaction, veteran England all-rounder Moeen Ali also hinted that racism does exist in the country’s cricket system.