Lord Patel had to go but his departure is a big chance missed - Chris Waters comment

When Lord Kamlesh Patel became Yorkshire chairman in November 2021, he had a magnificent opportunity to take the club forward following the racism scandal as the first British Asian to hold the office.

His inaugural press conference at Headingley was masterful and statesmanlike.

Whatever one’s view on the events that precipitated his arrival, it was hard to see how anyone could have made a better job than Patel did that day in front of the cameras.

He spoke of finding out what had gone on and getting to the bottom of things. He talked of taking people on a journey. Even those of us inclined to take some of his words with a pinch of salt were enthused by Patel’s vision for a more diverse, inclusive and welcoming organisation.

Fast forward some 14 months and the announcement on Friday that Patel is to stand down at the annual general meeting in March brings to an end surely the worst and easily the most controversial reign in the club’s history.

Because instead of standing by that election manifesto, as it were, delivered with a warmth that suggested a good man at core, Patel threw it in the bin and took up a course of action – whether through England and Wales Cricket Board and/or political pressure or otherwise – which made no apparent effort to get to the bottom of anything and certainly did not take everyone on a journey.

Not least, of course, the 14 coaches/backroom staff summarily sacked for signing a letter that questioned the character and motives of Azeem Rafiq, the scandal’s central figure, a decision which, taken less than a month into office, immediately and retrospectively spelled the beginning of the end for Patel.

It was a move from which he could never entirely recover and from which the club could never entirely move on under his leadership as it surveyed the wreckage trail of sundry unfair dismissal payouts.

For not only have the various dismissals, departures, pay-outs and legal fees arising from the crisis resulted in costs estimated at between £2m-£3m, with more than 20 staff having gone overall, but the notion that one might replace one immoral period in the club’s history (still by no means satisfactorily determined, incidentally), replace it with another and call it progress was simply absurd.

Throw in the fact that Patel and the club in general would not deal with the media and held their AGMs and EGMs behind closed doors, and it was hard to escape the feeling of a man and a club with much to hide, a club which Patel – in an almost parody of the pledge – insisted would be a model of transparency.

That Patel refused – still refuses, in fact – to show any contrition for the sackings, including that of the highly regarded British Asian physiotherapist Kunwar Bansil, without any effort to properly investigate the actual circumstances – simply cannot be condoned.

Patel gave no explanation for his departure in Yorkshire’s official press release, saying simply: “It has been an honour and a privilege to work for such a prestigious organisation.

“I have made the difficult decision to step aside at the next AGM and enable the club to continue on its important journey of change under a new chair.

“I would like to thank those members who have been hugely supportive of the changes that the Board have introduced at Headingley.

"I would also like to thank the staff and Board Members who have all worked tirelessly during what has been a transformational period in Yorkshire’s history.

“There is still much for the club to do, but I have the strongest faith that Yorkshire will be back at the pinnacle of English cricket for the long-term.”

Whether the new chair comes from within remains to be seen, but while Patel will continue to oversee the club’s response to the ECB hearings that are themselves in disarray, there is at least hope in the arrival of a new chief executive at Yorkshire in Stephen Vaughan, who needs time and support to drive the club forward in a way that Patel never threatened to achieve.

Patel can look back proudly on the removal of cost barriers to kit/coaching for children, a circa £500k per year outlay, which has diversified the club’s pathway programme.

The boys’ programme has seen what Yorkshire call “a nearly 40 per cent increase in attendees for regional observations, and an increase of 60 per cent of cricketers selected from a diverse background at County Age Group when compared with 2021. Girls’ County Age Group nominations have already increased by 60.7 per cent from 2021.”

The club has created a whistleblowing hotline, made governance improvements and put EDI – as much as CCC – against its name.

Well done to Patel for that.

But if only he had stuck to the entirety of his election manifesto (where was the EDI for Bansil et al?) and stood firm against those who would have seen – or at least threatened to see – a great club go bust when hysteria reigned.