Yorkshire chair Lord Kamlesh Patel has accused the former leadership of the England and Wales Cricket Board of failing to support him when he faced criticism over the reforms he led at the county.
Lord Patel took over at Yorkshire in November last year after the county had been stripped of hosting rights for international matches over their handling of racism allegations made by former player Azeem Rafiq.
He was tasked by the ECB with implementing governance reforms at Headingley in order to get the county back on track, but faced criticism from the club’s former leadership.
He told the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee he felt he was left totally alone to handle that by the ECB, and that without his previous leadership experience would have walked away.
“If I was attacked in the press or if cricket leaders or previous cricket leaders made unsubstantiated statements, nothing was done,” Patel told MPs.
“I asked in writing, and I have email after email, letter after letter, saying ‘you asked me to do this, I’ve done this, please support me’ and I have no response to any of those letters and emails. So it was very distressing.
“I’m looking forward to the new leadership of Richard Thompson, the few meetings I’ve had with him have been positive and it feels like it’s going forward, but these last 12 months, the answer (to the question of whether he has felt supported by the ECB) has to be ‘no’.”
Patel was asked if the ECB had any understanding of the level of criticism and push-back he was facing.
I don’t know how Azeem gets the strength to carry on. You would just run. In the public eye, we get flak (but) this is relentless.— Lord Patel
He added: “If I was an individual who wasn’t a member of the House of Lords and hadn’t had any sort of leadership experience, you would walk away.
“I don’t know how Azeem gets the strength to carry on. You would just run. In the public eye, we get flak (but) this is relentless. And this is from an area where you don’t expect it – this is sport, for God’s sake.
“Individuals who have just been (making) a concerted attack, I do not think people understand, I don’t think the ECB has got it.”
