Richard Pyrah: "Allegations of racism made by Azeem Rafiq have been badly handled"

The former Yorkshire seamer and bowling coach has withdrawn from the Cricket Discipline Commission headings in March and will play no further part in the disciplinary process

Richard Pyrah, the former Yorkshire seamer and bowling coach, says Azeem Rafiq's allegations of racism have not been "appropriately challenged".

The 40-year-old was charged by the England and Wales Cricket following its investigation into the racism scandal at Headingley.

But Pyrah will not appear as part of the public Cricket Discipline Commission hearings from March 1-9 after withdrawing from the disciplinary process earlier this week.

^{Rafiq is scheduled to give evidence at the hearings (Harry Engels/Getty Images)}

Former England men's captain Michael Vaughan is the only individual charged who is scheduled to appear. Andrew Gale, Matthew Hoggard, Tim Bresnan, John Blain and Gary Balance - who has already accepted a charge of using racially discriminatory language - will not feature.

In the wake of the allegations fully coming to light, Yorkshire sacked 16 members of their coaching and backroom staff in December 2021.

The club later "acknowledged that its dismissals of that group of employees was procedurally unfair" and settled with Pyrah and Gale, among others, last September.

pic.twitter.com/A8dkFG7Ii4

— Richard Pyrah (@RichardPyrah) February 9, 2023

However, Pyrah remains angry with how the episode was handled, the lack of scrutiny of Azeem's allegations, and the conduct of outgoing char Lord Patel, and blames the process for having "a profound effect on me and my family".

"To this point, I have fully cooperated with both the YCCC and the ECB investigatons despite feeling that the processes involved have not been open, fair, or transparent," he said.

"I feel that the allegations of racism made by Azeem Rafiq have been badly handled. They have not been appropriately challenged and appear to me to have been at face value by Lord Patel the ECB.

^{Matthew Hoggard pulled out of the CDC hearings last weekend (Getty Images)}

"Everyone at Yorkshire was treated as culpable without the allegations being properly investigated.

"The whole process has had a profound effect on me and my family. I have lost a very promising coaching career and had to look elsewhere for employment."

The statement mirrors Hoggard and Bresnan's criticism of the process, which also followed confirmation they would not appear at the hearings, which represent the next chapter of the scandal. Yorkshire have already admitted to four ECB charges relating to bringing the game into disrepute.

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