Colin Graves insists he witnessed no racism during his tenure in Yorkshire

Graves was chairman of Yorkshire between 2012 and 2015, a period which coincided with Rafiq’s first spell at the club. And his comments come after Yorkshire admitted four amended charges related to their handling of Rafiq’s racism and bullying allegations, with sanctions expected to be handed down on June 27.

“When I was president of the club, when some of these allegations were made, I can tell you now, nothing was raised within the club,” Graves told Sky Sports News.

“And I ran the club on an open-door basis as chairman, players could visit me if they had problems and they did on a regular basis… there was never any discussion of any allegations of racism.

“I think there are times when words have been said that people may regret afterwards,” he added. “I don’t think it was done on a racist, savage basis. I think there was a lot — I know people don’t like the word banter — but I think there could have been a lot of banter about it, and I know people Do not like.”

Graves’ comments were quickly condemned by the ECB, for which he chaired from 2015 to 2020.

“We are disappointed by Colin Graves’ comments about the historic racist issues at Yorkshire County Cricket Club,” the ECB said in a statement.

“We must never again hear stories like Azeem Rafiq’s, where racial slurs are used as part of normalized, everyday language.

“These events, along with many of the problems encountered by Azeem and others during their time in Yorkshire, have been confirmed on more than one occasion, including in proceedings overseen by the Cricket Discipline Committee.

“We strongly disagree that this is ‘just a joke’ and think any debate about it should stop immediately. Racism is not a joke.”

In 2002, Graves bailed the club out on a multimillion-pound loan, with around £14.9 million still owed to the Graves Family Trust. The club is due to repay £500,000 in October, with the remainder due next year, and Graves had offered to help restructure that debt in exchange for a second stint as chairman.

Last week, however, he withdrew his candidacy after criticizing the lengthy time taken by the board to nominate a successor to Lord Patel, who stepped down in March.

“As far as I know [Yorkshire] will run out of cash in September,” Graves said. ‘If [a buyer or investor] not [come in]presumably the only way for them is to go into administration.

“And if that happens — and I hope it doesn’t — if they go into administration, then the trustee will have to talk to the trust’s trustees, because the trust has got its first legal charge.”

In response, the Yorkshire board insisted the club had “a lot of positive talks” about investment – including, it is believed, with former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley and Saudi Arabia’s national investment fund – but insisted insists that “the club is not for sale”.

The ECB added: “Yorkshire is of huge importance to cricket in England and Wales with a deep history and the ability to inspire and connect all cricket fans. They are currently working hard to solve their financial and cultural challenges and the club , and its new management, have our full support.”