“Today
I
announce
my
resignation
as
chairman
of
Yorkshire
County
Cricket
Club,
with
immediate
effect,”
Hutton
said
Friday
(November
5).

“There
has
been
a
constant
unwillingness
from
the
executive
members
of
the
board
and
senior
management
at
the
club
to
apologize,
and
to
accept
that
there
was
racism,
and
to
look
forward.
For
much
of
my
time
at
the
club,
I
experienced
a
culture
that
refuses
to
accept
change
or
challenge.”

ECB
suspends
Yorkshire
from
hosting
international
matches
over
handling
of
Rafiq
racism
case

Hutton
joined
the
Yorkshire
board
in
2020,
almost
two
years
after
Rafiq
ended
his
second
stint
at
Headingley,
and
says
he
has
never
met
the
player.

On
Thursday
(November
4),
Yorkshire
was
suspended
from
hosting
international
matches
as
punishment
for
its
handling
of
the
racism
case
that
has
shaken
the
sport.

The
England
and
Wales
Cricket
Board
slammed
the
club
for
its
“wholly
unacceptable”
response
to
the
racism
faced
by
Rafiq.

A
number
of
Yorkshire’s
sponsors
have
deserted
the
beleaguered
club,
and
the
ECB
said
the
case
“is
causing
serious
damage
to
the
reputation
of
the
game.”

“The
ECB
find
this
matter
abhorrent
and
against
the
spirit
of
cricket
and
its
values,”
the
governing
body
said
in
a
statement.

Yorkshire’s
Headingley
Stadium
was
scheduled
to
host
England’s
test
against
New
Zealand
and
a
men’s
one-day
international
against
South
Africa
in
2022,
as
well
as
an
Ashes
test
against
Australia
in
2023.

But
the
ECB
said
the
club
is
“suspended
from
hosting
international
or
major
matches
until
it
has
clearly
demonstrated
that
it
can
meet
the
standards
expected
of
an
international
venue.”

Yorkshire
racism
crisis:
Rafiq
says
cricket
needs
‘cultural
change’
as
Ballance
issues
apology

Yorkshire
said
last
month
that
it
would
not
take
any
disciplinary
action
against
any
of
its
employees,
players
or
executives
despite
a
report
that
found
that
Rafiq
–
one
of
its
former
captains
–
was
the
victim
of
racial
harassment
and
bullying.

Rafiq,
a
former
England
under-19
captain,
said
in
interviews
last
year
that
as
a
Muslim
he
was
made
to
feel
like
an
“outsider”
during
his
time
at
Yorkshire
from
2008-18
and
that
he
was
close
to
taking
his
own
life.

A
formal
independent
investigation
was
commissioned
by
Yorkshire
into
more
than
40
allegations
made
by
Rafiq,
with
seven
of
them
upheld
in
a
report
released
last
month.

On
Wednesday
(November
3),
former
England
cricketer
Gary
Ballance
admitted
using
a
racial
slur
against
Rafiq
when
they
were
teammates
at
Yorkshire,
but
said
that
“this
was
a
situation
where
best
friends
said
offensive
things
to
each
other
which,
outside
of
that
context,
would
be
considered
wholly
inappropriate.”