Mr Regan has accepted responsibility for an administrative error which has been made at Yorkshire. I have no idea who made the error, but surely Mr Sugare has not gone through life without making any mistakes. Or has he?

The ECB has succeeded in ruining cricket for many people by changing some rules every season. It seems they are obsessed with change for the sake of it to justify their highly paid existence.

There are now so many categories of player – England qualified, overseas, Kolpak, EU – that it is hardly surprising that an error has occurred in an admin department.

In my opinion, one overseas player per county should mean exactly that – one overseas player can be signed, but if he is injured or recalled by his country, no replacement should be allowed.

This would stop the practice of some counties of changing their overseas player every few weeks.

I think it is a great pity that millions of pounds have come into the sport just for Twenty20 cricket. If it were not for the Champions League at the end of the season, the error at Yorkshire would not have caused such repercussions.

I found it very interesting watching the Sky coverage of the Durham/Yorkshire match that all the commentators with one exception (David Lloyd) expressed sympathy for Yorkshire and some felt that this was "an accident waiting to happen" due to the ECB's complicated rules.

According to the Yorkshire Post, Durham were informed by the ECB at 2.45pm last Monday that there would be no match and were asked not to open the gates to spectators before 5.10pm. Obviously, Durham ignored this request and they alone were responsible for thousands of people standing in the rain, having been admitted to the ground without being informed the match would not take place. Sky viewers were informed before the spectators!

What I should really like to know is who made the allegation to the ECB about Azeem Rafiq's registration in the first place!

It is a great pity that this mistake has occurred at Yorkshire and I feel very sorry for young Azeem Rafiq, Stewart Regan and all the Yorkshire players, plus spectators who travelled to the game – but no-one has died or been injured.

It will be Yorkshire's loss if Stewart Regan decides to resign due to the attitudes of people like Mr Sugare.

From: CJ Metcalfe, Lower Edge Road, Elland, West Yorkshire.

I WRITE to express my total agreement with the sentiments expressed by Chris Waters regarding the ill-considered decision by Yorkshire CCC to appeal against its expulsion from the Twenty20 Cup (Yorkshire Post, July 12).

I feel that Mr Waters is correct in his view that this will almost inevitably result in the club "tunnelling their way into further trouble". It would be beyond belief that any professional sporting club, with responsibility for the administration of all its playing staff, to enable those players to perform at the highest level on the field, without any concerns about the day to day running of their sporting lives, could prove itself to be so utterly incompetent.

Beyond belief, except that this is Yorkshire CCC, proven past masters when it comes to mismanagement on the grand scale. The fact that the club's chief executive does not see depriving the players of a possible share of a £2.5m payout as being serious enough to resign over, does not surprise me at all. The fact that he has been unavailable for comment since Yorkshire's expulsion was announced does not surprise me either.

In the winter of 2006, when my Yorkshire membership came up for renewal, I wrote to Mr Regan expressing a number of concerns regarding the club's management of its affairs.

Among these were the lack at the time of a first team captain and coach, the club's willingness to offload talented young players to other counties and the introduction of new categories of membership which paid scant regard to the loyalty of long-standing members like myself.

I received a short email from Mr Regan's personal assistant, informing me that he would write to me soon in person, responding in full to all
my concerns.

I still await his response, and needless to say, I did not renew my membership.

From: Peter Broadley, West Vale Chambers, Stainland Road, Greetland, Halifax.

THE debacle with regard to Yorkshire County Cricket Club's handling of the player registration affair has a strong similarity to the current Government's approach to responsibility when mistakes are made.

It would seem that the YCCC chief executive and Government Ministers have the following in common:

They both are arrogant.

They are good at talking about matters they no nothing about.

They are both overpaid for what they do.

When things go wrong, they accept responsibility, normally having had an "internal enquiry", which reveals faults inherited from a previous administration and which have now been put right.

They do not propose to resign, since they regard themselves essential to carry through the reforms highlighted by the "internal enquiry".

The continuing salary being drawn in no way effects their decision.


From: Eddie Peart, Broom Chase, Broom Crescent, Rotherham.

CAN the ECB tell me how cricketer Azeem Rafiq, who has played and captained for his team at national level, is not allowed to play for his county?

This is far more serious. I am waiting for the ECB to be punished.

What chance? The encouragement of cricketers from ethnic backgrounds will be severely dented.


A day at the castle gives a challenge to Mr McMillan


From: Hilary E Holt, Executive Committee Member, Yorkshire Ridings Society, Fenwick Lane, Fenwick.

THANK you for Ian McMillan on Tuesdays. He is always enjoyable and gives you summat to think on.

May, I, however, challenge Mr McMillan?

We went to Conisbrough Castle. It was raining so dodged into the shop. "Can't go in the keep," warned the curator.
"It's not safe – copper cable's been attacked."

So I picked up a helmet – with a visor and tall red feathery plume and said: "This must be the one for grandsons."

"Ah, you've read Ian McMillan," said the curator. "In the Yorkshire Post."

I thought of Ian. Asking "How much?" then "How much???" And the grandson's eyes gleaming through the grille of the visor.

So we enjoyed a friendly chat out of the rain about the Yorkshire Post – and the vandals in the keep –and visitor numbers being down – and school parties having to
be cancelled.

Then some visitor numbers came in. "Can't go in the keep," we chorused. "Not safe."

"Do we have to pay?" asked the woman. "Well, yes and no," replied the curator. "Half, because we're half-closed." By then it was only half-raining so we went outside to enjoy our half-price visit.

Now I realise our experience at Conisbrough fits the McMillan definition of a site-specific art-event (Yorkshire Post, July 1).

There will be many such events throughout Yorkshire's Three Ridings – and beyond, to celebrate Yorkshire Day on August 1. So I would like to challenge Mr McMillan to participate in his choice of
site-specific art-event for Yorkshire Day.

We look forward to reading his report in the Yorkshire Post.