Yorkshire CCC: a club relegated and a club destroyed - Chris Waters

There is no other word for it.

Ripped apart by the racism scandal, and now relegated from the Championship First Division.

It has been horrible to witness and it is not finished yet. It could take years to recover from this.

Not long ago, Yorkshire CCC was in as settled a state as it has been for years. It announced record profits on the back of the 2019 Headingley Ashes Test. Barely a whiff of controversy attended its dealings.

Then - bang. Everything changed in the autumn of 2020, triggering a domino effect that has torn it asunder. The racism allegations, and the club’s response to them, have led Yorkshire to where they are today.

Whatever you think about that, and my belief is that the club has been wilfully and wrongly taken down by narcissists, Yorkshire have gone from harmony to bedlam in the space of two years. Chaos prevails - and there is no end in sight.

The chairman, Lord Patel, is a walking disaster. He simply has to go - I’ll pay for the cab.

Even putting aside my natural aversion to any mortal being who has “Lord” before his name, Patel has done so much damage to the club that it is difficult to know where to start.

Even if everything that Azeem Rafiq claimed was true, a strong argument could be made that Patel has acted with greater immorality - unless you think that sacking 16 people a few weeks before Christmas without any attempt to find out whether they had done anything wrong, and in what the courts have conceded was an unlawful move, can somehow be classed as a moral action.

Patel had no choice, the apologists say. He was merely clearing out the Augean stables. Nonsense.

Patel didn’t have to take the job and he should have had the guts to stand up for what, deep down, even he must know to be the truth. The rest of the board should go too - even though most have only just arrived. They must take collective responsibility for the current mess.

Morale at Headingley is at an all-time low. Many staff want out and are, or have been, actively looking. There are many great people working there, people who deserve much better support. They have been loyal to an organisation that does not deserve their loyalty.

The cricket?

Well, Darren Gough was a magnificent bowler, one of the best that this country has seen. He can be engaging company and has many qualities.

But the director of cricket role is more of an administrative one these days than a cricketing position. He was an interim appointment and his future is unclear. Does he want to carry on? Only time will tell.

Ottis Gibson is an international coach trying his hand for the first time as a county head coach.

He has found it tough.

He has walked into a transparently challenging and imperfect situation - albeit of his own volition.

He will hope to take Yorkshire back up at the first attempt and has some young and enthusiastic coaches working under him.

But he has a huge job on his hands to make Yorkshire a great cricketing county again, one that is not just gaining promotion but also actively pushing for the Championship title.

The players are broken and were spent by the finish.

Six defeats in the last eight Championship games - it must be years since Yorkshire had a sequence like that, assuming that they ever have - speaks volumes.

Yet I have the utmost sympathy and respect for the players.

Many wanted out before the start of the season, sickened by the club’s decision to sack all the coaches and medics, people they respected and, in many cases, who had helped them to realise their dream of becoming professional cricketers. There was talk of them going on strike at one stage, even rumours of a black armband protest.

But they got on with the job and deserve credit for that. They should get a medal, in fact, despite relegation.

Some have had enough, and you can understand why. Dave Willey and Tom Kohler-Cadmore are two that spring to mind, players good enough to have attracted interest from rival counties. Others were/are not quite so lucky.

They had no choice but to stay even though, deep down, they love playing for the club.

When considering the blow of relegation, confirmed by Warwickshire’s win against Hampshire on Thursday, it must be remembered that the players were left without proper support behind the scenes before the season began. All the medical staff had gone and the club’s pre-season was badly disrupted.

Bowlers, in particular, were at greater risk of injury and some went down when the action started. It was far from ideal.

The players tried their best but, ultimately, the club is fundamentally broken at heart.

A club destroyed - and a club now relegated.

How sadly fitting.

How totally avoidable.