Yorkshire part company with entire coaching staff in wake of racism scandal

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The fallout from the Azeem Rafiq racism investigation continued apace on Friday when Yorkshire’s entire coaching team departed the crisis club.

The long-serving director of cricket, Martyn Moxon, and the head coach, Andrew Gale, become the latest high-profile departures following those of Roger Hutton, who stepped down as president in early November, and Mark Arthur, who resigned as chief executive a week later following widespread condemnation of the club over its handling of the investigation and the treatment of their former player Rafiq.

The new chairman, Kamlesh Patel, continued his wholesale restructuring of the club as Moxon and Gale were accompanied on their way out by the director of medical services, Wayne Morton, and all their coaching colleagues, with Yorkshire stating that they planned to appoint a new coaching and medical team “imminently”. A new director of cricket is reportedly set to be announced next week.

Moxon, who had been signed off since 9 November due to a stress-related illness, and Gale, suspended pending a disciplinary hearing into a past antisemitic social media post, were both heavily criticised at a digital, culture, media and sport select committee hearing at Westminster last month, when Rafiq repeated to MPs his call for both to step down from their roles at the club.

“I don’t think Martyn and Andrew can [continue],” Rafiq said. “I don’t think it’s possible for Yorkshire to move forward with them in there, with them knowing full well what role they played in that institution.”

Moxon, 61, was an opening batsman for Yorkshire from 1980 to 1997 and returned to become director of cricket in 2007. Gale, 38, was also an opening batsman and captained the team until his retirement at the end of the 2016 season when he was appointed as coach.

Yorkshire say the total number of departures is 16, including six members of the backroom medical team provided by Pavilion Physiotherapy Clinic.

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Lord Patel said: “Significant change is required at Yorkshire County Cricket Club and we are committed to taking whatever action is necessary to regain trust.

“The decisions announced today were difficult to make, but are in the best interests of the club. Without making important changes to how we are run, we cannot move on from the past to become a culture which is progressive and inclusive.

“We want to make Yorkshire County Cricket Club a place for everyone, from all backgrounds. To do this, we need to rebuild our culture and instil positive values in everyone associated with Yorkshire.

“We are determined to learn from the mistakes of the past to become a club which people can trust.”