Headingley will once again be allowed to host international matches after Yorkshire County Cricket Club members voted in favour of reforms mandated by the England and Wales Cricket Board.
The right to host such events was stripped by the ECB in the wake of allegations of racism made by Azeem Rafiq, and the way they had been handled by the club. Yorkshire had been told in February that it would get the chance to host internationals this summer if it met Thursday's deadline for changes to be approved.
A statement from the club said: "The Members of Yorkshire County Cricket Club tonight overwhelmingly passed three special resolutions at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held in the Long Room at Headingley. The club can now continue to drive the right approach through essential governance reforms and meets conditions set by the England and Wales Cricket Board for the return of International and major matches at their ground."
Those reforms mean that Headingley is now set to host a England Test match against New Zealand, starting on June 23, as well as a one-day international fixture against South Africa the following month. More than 1,100 club members voted either in person or electronically, with enough approvals for all the required changes to pass.
In total, three resolutions were passed. The first sees new chairman Lord Patel and acting chief executive Paul Hudson formally appointed to the board, while the second "released the directors from liability resulting from the invalidity of their actions or appointment since November 5, 2021" – their appointments last year had been technically invalid due to "procedural flaws".
The final resolution passed was one which confirmed the composition of the board, which includes the "appointment of non-executive directors, the ex-officio board membership of the chief executive officer and the managing director of cricket and the ability to appoint up to two club members to the board, while providing for membership oversight over non-executive directors board membership."
Lord Patel said: "We welcome the outcome of this EGM and thank the members for their full and proper consideration, an open exchange of views, and their votes. It is an overwhelming vote for positive change. This support will help Yorkshire County Cricket Club to be an inclusive and welcoming place and gives us the clarity and certainty we need to keep building this great club.
"Yorkshire has now met the ECB's conditions for the return of international cricket and, working with them, we'll deliver some great events here at Headingley this summer. We're looking forward to the start of the season, for all our teams and for cricket at all levels right across this county."
A spokesperson for the ECB added: "We are pleased that Yorkshire members have given their overwhelming support to these reforms. This is an important step forward in bringing about real change and setting the club on course for a more inclusive future.
"We welcome the progress made by Lord Patel so far, as well as his commitment to making the club one which everyone, from all backgrounds, can be proud of. With these governance reforms now having been passed, we are satisfied that international cricket can now be staged at Headingley this summer.
"However, there is much work still to be done at Yorkshire and it is important that the plans set out so far are now delivered. We will continue to monitor progress closely. Our regulatory investigation into the complaints brought by Azeem Rafiq, which is separate to this process, remains ongoing and we will update on this in due course."
