Essex cricket chairman John Faragher quits over racism allegations

London: The chairman of Essex has resigned in the latest racism incident to hit English county cricket following the Azeem Rafiq scandal at Yorkshire.

John Faragher, who stepped down on Thursday, denies the allegations against him, which relate to an Essex board meeting in 2017, but the club are looking into why the incident was not fully and independently investigated at the time.

John Stephenson, the former Essex and England cricketer who recently took over as the club’s chief executive, said on Friday: “There is no place for discrimination of any kind at Essex County Cricket Club.”

Former Yorkshire player Rafiq was found by an independent report to have been subject to “racial harassment and bullying”, with the Leeds-based club’s chairman and chief executive resigning in the ensuing fall-out.

England captain Joe Root, who has spent all of his club career at Yorkshire, demanded change on Thursday, saying events at Headingley had “fractured our game and torn lives apart”.

An England and Wales Cricket Board spokesman said Friday: “There is absolutely no place for racism or any form of discrimination in our game.

“The England and Wales Cricket Board opened an investigation into Essex County Cricket Club after receiving an allegation involving John Faragher, who has subsequently resigned as the club chair. The ECB is taking this allegation extremely seriously.”