Yorkshire CCC questioning Lord’s double standards

YORKSHIRE want answers from English cricket chiefs over perceived double standards concerning the treatment of captain Andrew Gale.
out of the picture: Andrew Gale was banned from collecting the championship trophy in 2014. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpeout of the picture: Andrew Gale was banned from collecting the championship trophy in 2014. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe
out of the picture: Andrew Gale was banned from collecting the championship trophy in 2014. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

Gale was banned from lifting the County Championship trophy last year and suspended for four games for telling Lancashire’s South African batsman Ashwell Prince to “f*** off back to your own country, you Kolpak f*****” during a Roses match.

But Somerset and England pace bowler Craig Overton was only given a two-game ban for allegedly telling Sussex’s Pakistan-born spinner Ashar Zaidi to “go back to your own f****** country” during a county game in September.

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Details of Overton’s outburst have just emerged and although Yorkshire are making no official comment, first-team coach Jason Gillespie took to Twitter to effectively confirm the club will be contacting the England and Wales Cricket Board.

“There is a strong chance that Yorkshire will be seeking clarification on this,” tweeted Gillespie, who is currently in his home town of Adelaide preparing to lead the Strikers’ franchise in the Australian Big Bash League.

Gale himself tweeted that he found the latest twist “interesting” and then retweeted a comment which said: “Perhaps this is an ECB test to see if your anger management course worked?”, which was another facet of Gale’s punishment.

The ECB denied bias after Overton, 21, was punished for a Level One offence, the least serious of the four disciplinary directives.

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“The ECB refutes any suggestion of interference or bias in the proper disciplinary process,” said a Lord’s spokesman.

The board also distanced themselves from the cricket discipline commission, which administers discipline covered by the ECB’s own rules, regulations and directives.

“The cricket discipline commission is an independent body which operates at arm’s length from the ECB,” the spokesman added.

Overton denied making the remarks, which were reported by umpire Alex Wharf and overheard by Michael Yardy, the non-striker.

The punishment lifted him to nine penalty points and triggered an automatic suspension after two earlier offences.