Yorkshire To Host Test Matches In 2022 After ECB Lifts Ban

The ban on Yorkshire Cricket Club has been lifted and the historic county can now host Test matches in 2022. ECB imposed a ban on the club after reports of racism against Azeem Rafiq. The scandal became one of the most controversial stories of English cricket as a result of which the club was banned from hosting any kind of cricket.

However, the ECB after an inspection felt that Yorkshire “has demonstrated that it can meet the standards of an international venue”. The inspection was held under Lord Kamlesh Patel, the ECB board have decided to allow the club to host major matches once more three months after the ban was imposed

Lord Kamlesh Patel Key Behind Yorkshire’s Ban Lift

The report further stated that if the ban would not have been lifted, ‘all the progress he had made in recent months would be endangered’ and the club could have faced ‘the genuine prospect of insolvency’.

This also means that it is likely to host a Test against New Zealand in June as well as an ODI against South Africa in July. It is likely to host an Ashes Test in 2023 as well.

Interestingly, Azeem Rafiq himself as the ban on Yorkshire to be lifted. He said that the country is moving towards a new direction under Lord Patel. Since Lord Kamlesh Patel has taken over, major changes have occurred at Yorkshire, with an entirely new board and coaching staff put in place.

“At first in all this, I believed international cricket should be taken away from them. But they have done enough to warrant getting it back, for now at least.

“It has been a whirlwind since I appeared in front of MPs almost two months ago, and what Yorkshire and Lord Patel have done to bring change is definitely a step in the right direction. Yorkshire need to be supported and helped to move in that right direction,” wrote Rafiq in his column for Daily Mail.

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