Yorkshire first team coach Andrew Gale has been suspended “pending a disciplinary hearing following a landmark tweet”, while cricket director Martyn Moxon is absent from work due to a “stress-related illness”.
Yorkshire head coach Andrew Gale has been suspended
Yorkshire first team coach Andrew Gale has been suspended “pending a disciplinary hearing following a landmark tweet.”
The county also announced that Cricket Director Martyn Moxon is absent from work due to a “stress-related illness.”
Gale told the Jewish News last week he had been “completely unaware” of the meaning of an offensive and anti-Semitic word he used in a landmark tweet and subsequently removed, after the newspaper reported the story.
A statement from the club read: “We can confirm that Andrew Gale, the head coach of the Yorkshire XI, is currently suspended pending a disciplinary hearing following a landmark tweet.
“The club will make a new statement once this process has been completed.”
Meanwhile, Moxon, who has faced calls to resign from former President Roger Hutton, in addition to many others, is currently absent from Headingley.
“Cricket director Martyn Moxon is, as of today (November 9), absent from work due to a stress-related illness. He will be given the necessary support,” added a statement from the club.
Azeem Rafiq has repeatedly called on Moxon and CEO Mark Arthur to leave Yorkshire in response to the racism crisis in Headingley.
He said in a statement Monday: “Mark Arthur, Martyn Moxon and many of the coaching staff have been part of the problem.
“They have consistently failed to take responsibility for what happened during their tenure and they must go. I urge you to do the right thing and step down to make way for those who will do what is necessary for the future of the club.”
The government has promised to “step in” with “real action” if Yorkshire and the Cricket Board of England and Wales fall short in their response to the racism crisis in the county.
Stockport MP Nav Mishra raised an urgent question on the matter, and Culture Minister Chris Philp told the House of Commons that racism must be “confronted” and “eradicated” in sport before calling for more resignations in Headingley. .
Hutton resigned as president last week citing frustrations over handling Rafiq’s claims of institutional racism, but Philp suggested that was not enough, telling MPs: “If there is anyone left from that regime, they should resign as well.”
Philp said the situation facing former player Rafiq was “unacceptable”, that it “should never have been allowed to happen” and that it should have been “dealt with appropriately” during the initial investigation.
The case should be a “watershed moment for cricket,” added the minister.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Philp said: “We have been clear with the Cricket Board of England and Wales that this needs a full and transparent investigation of both the Azeem Rafiq related incidents and the broader cultural issues in the Yorkshire Cricket Club “.