Titans to hold Yorkshire to their word and ensure partnership has substance

South African franchise Titans were only convinced to partner with Yorkshire after being satisfied by their desire to change in the wake of the racism storm that engulfed the club.

Azeem Rafiq's chilling DCMS testimony and witness statement as part of the employment tribunal against the club supported the charge they were "institutionally racist" through his two spells at Headingley.

Chair Lord Kamlesh Patel is leading the rehabilitation and, while key figures such as ex-chief executive Mark Arthur and director of cricket Martyn Moxon have departed, former chair Robin Smith has attempted to block reform, highlighting what he considers to be administrative irregularities and raising concerns that Patel's proposed changes would lead to the county being overly exposed to outside influence.

Part of Yorkshire's new era includes a link-up with Titans and Pakistan Super League franchise Lahore Qalandars, with Patel hoping it can help the club's "ongoing commitment to bring down the barriers that have previously disengaged so many from the game of cricket".

Accessibility, engaging and developing local talent using an improved pathway system and exchanging players are among the key aspects of the relationship, which all sides are adamant will not just be a PR exercise.

Titans risk-assessed the association and, after talks with Patel, concluded the club is heading in the right direction – a view supported by the ECB lifting its suspension on Headingley hosting international cricket.

"Yorkshire need to move on," chief-executive Dr Jacques Faul told The Cricketer. "If Yorkshire didn't make significant strides in trying to address this issue, we probably wouldn't have had a relationship with them. That is quite important.

"We view them as honestly aiming to address it. If their hearts are in the right place and they've moved on and made signing strides - and we can aid in that - then it is different to us.

^{Lord Kamlesh Patel is leading Yorkshire's rebuild (Oli Scarff/Getty Images)}

"If it was at the beginning of the whole drama then the risk for us was a bit higher and we might be a bit anxious. I listened to what Lord Patel is trying to do and I assessed the sincerity, and we can try to help get the message out there. We've both been through a storm.

"We've got to say that they probably took a bit of a knock in terms of their reputation, but they have moved on from the initial drama that they faced."

The storm Faul referred to came in the form of the racist allegations Titans themselves faced during last year's Social Justice and Nation-Building hearings.

Ethy Mbhalati - who in 2020 accused Titans of cultural bias and alleged he'd been told he was only playing because he was black - believed racial discrimination directly influenced his salary. He also documented how white and black players would travel to matches and be housed in separate hotel rooms on away trips.

"It became so normal for us; the white guys would all get into their combi when we were going to games, and all the black players would travel together in their own combi, we used to call ours the 'darkie bus'. Sometimes you find that the white guys would even sit on top of their luggage in that white bus," said Mbhalati, who retired in 2016.

Board member Kabelo Khaas was criticised in the SJN report for denying the allegations made by Mbhalati without any evidence and for being unaware of Aaron Phangiso, Ashwell Prince and Mpho Selowa's experiences of being referred to as 'quota' players.

Northern Cricket Union's actions could not be fully investigated owing to a lack of time, with the independent ombudsman "unable to make definitive conclusions". It also found Titans' refusal to admit to any of Mbhalati's allegations was "simply not possible".

Titans responded to the hearings with the #IAMCHAMPION campaign, which includes the sale of wristbands that go towards the Sky Blues Trust – the team's charitable arm.

Faul added: "We're only going to solve this problem if there is responsible, authentic leadership in saying 'guys, there is an issue, how do we solve it?'

^{Ethy Mbhalati dismisses Marcus Trescothick for South Africa A (Clive Rose/Getty Images)}

"You have to start off with a sincere intention and play a role in solving this. That sometimes outweighs the idea of 'listen, let's just avoid a partnership or the risk of being tainted'.

"The one thing that you have to start with is to admit that there is a problem, and you have to admit that it needs to be fixed. That is a good start for us."

"What we have seen is we were a bit oblivious in the past to some of these issues and we got stung with a bucket of cold water," he later said.

"Just because there has been a report doesn't mean it has ended. It is a leadership challenge. It is normal to deny and be angry. But at the end of the day, we have to deal with it. You can't park it and say it isn't our problem. You're now aware of it, so where is the issue?"

At least Faul has owned up to his mistakes. During the SJN hearings, he admitted Cricket South Africa, while he was interim CEO, got several appointments wrong, including Mark Boucher as men's head coach and Graeme Smith as director of cricket, in the wake of Thabang Moroe's suspension.

Both Smith and Boucher are now under investigation by the governing body for alleged racist conduct after being implicated in the SJN report.

Jacques Kallis and Paul Harris were added to the coaching team in what the current Titans chief says saw "too many whites involved".

He ended up standing down from his second spell at CSA four weeks ahead of schedule, following a heated board meeting.

Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher are under investigation for alleged racist conduct (Brenton Geach/AFP/Getty Images)

Patel is currently attempting to push through change at Yorkshire and as the Graves Trust continues to hang over the club, his predecessor as chair Smith has voiced his displeasure. An Extraordinary General Meeting to vote on Patel's reforms is due.

Faul believes an independent mediator may be required to settle the matter.

"The important thing is to get buy-in from the get-go," Faul explained.

"I am not sure you should come up with a final plan and confront people with a fail accompli because that will result in more resistance.

"It is sometimes difficult to get people over the line. My experience with this is you need a lot of engagement with all groups. With that form of mediation, all parties have got to give a little bit.

"[You must] understand people as well, listen and not just respond. Everybody has a belief system and there is a lot in valuing and engaging early and often.

"Sometimes people are just obstructive but there is no better alternative than getting people from the outside to help facilitate it. People get into different corners very quickly and they oppose each other.

"You need people who can facilitate and better relationships between opposing views. That is what we try to do. We don't even try to do it ourselves, that is why we reached out under very difficult circumstances in the past.

"We also want to introduce that to Yorkshire. It is also a trust issue. If one group is trying to prove that they're right and you're wrong you're just going to upset each other more. There has to be a way that you find a process that facilitates people getting closer to each other.

Rafiq's emotional testimony sent shockwaves through cricket (DCMS)

"It is a process rather than a quick fix and if you're trying to convince people, good luck.

"You need to find peace in the fact that some people you will never convince. You're never going to get a 100 per cent buy-in but you do need a critical number to start a flow and that will take people with you."

Of the conversations within English cricket since Rafiq and others went public, one of the most notable and far-reaching is dressing room culture. The ECB have asked Clare Connor to lead a review.

When the governing body comes around to implementing change, they would do well to consider how Titans and others have approached the subject.

"Looking back, we realise that people felt isolated and felt led out," Faul said.

"It is one of the good things that came out of the inquiry, what we're trying to do now is this dignity, diversity and conflict management training that we want to do with our whole footprint, including the coaches as well.

"You need experts [Titans have brought in Oscar Siwali, who works in conflict management, and Alan Nelson, who is trained in dignity violations] for that. We've got to talk about it.

"You've got to sit people down and ask how do we address this? But it is an issue everywhere. People coming into a dressing room just want to be accepted.

"We are aiming at educating around it. Culture is not a thing that you can put out. It is what we do, what we say, what we think. So, it is going to take a while.

Dressing room culture is at the centre of English cricket's review (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

"One thing we have done here is create awareness around it. A changing room is a funny place. As much as you're one team you're also competing for positions and if you're losing that magnifies everything and the cracks show a bit. When you're winning they appear to be gone.

"We're also aware that we've got to respect individuals, we've got to respect cultures.

"You don't arrive in a changing room in a neutral state of mind assessing how the culture is. You arrive there already informed. What we're saying is we've got to find a way earlier, Under-14, Under-15, Under-16, Under-17 to influence people.

"By the time they have graduated to professional cricket we will have wanted to do a lot of work already. We want to start with our under-age provincial teams and roll it out as far as possible to our clubs and junior clubs.

"Nobody arrives with neutral perceptions within a changing room. It is natural that you would gravitate towards what is familiar to you instead of integrating so we've got to find ways of addressing that.

"We don't have all the answers."

One of the central pillars of the partnership between Yorkshire and Titans will be a player exchange programme. Two women and two players from disadvantaged communities - "a lot of these kids would have never left their city, let alone go to another province in South Africa," added Faul - are due at Headingley in June and July this year.

Haris Rauf is already confirmed to join Yorkshire as an overseas player for 2022 and it remains to be seen if Titans facilitate a similar arrangement. Though Faul says such discussions are yet to take place, he mentioned Tabraiz Shamsi - who has previously had spells at Hampshire, Nottinghamshire and played for Oval Invincibles in The Hundred last year.

Mignon du Preez (Getty Images)

Of the women's team, Mignon du Preez represented Manchester Originals while Sune Luus pulled out of a spell with Welsh Fire.

Though Yorkshire and Qalandars were forced to call off their friendly scheduled for January 16, it is likely all three sides could meet when the English county travel to Dubai to complete their pre-season preparations.

And alongside the match, Titans will send officials, including members of their media team, to speak with Yorkshire to ensure the relationship means something.

That said, Faul is conscious that equating what a successful union looks like is difficult to gauge.

"Success is if we can find opportunities that better all the teams and they can benefit from the relationship," he said.

"On the field, exchanging of players, creating opportunities for players within the programme, and learning from each other in terms of social issues.

"Success is very difficult to quantify. It would be that the relationship is a success based on learning and interaction for us.

"And be seen to be honestly trying to address our issues but that is very difficult to quantify.

"I don't think it will happen in the first couple of years. We've got to make sure that there is a long-term relationship to have a big impact."