England’s World Twenty20 preparations ‘at risk of being thrown into chaos due to Yorkshire racism tribunal clash’… with leg-spinner Adil Rashid in danger of missing the build up to the tournament if he is summoned as a key witness
- Yorkshire’s racism tribunal is due to take place later this year in October
- The tribunal follows allegations made by former player Azeem Rafiq last year
- It is due to clash with England’s build up to the Twenty20 World Cup
- Adil Rashid has previously corroborated an allegation made by Rafiq
- He could be summoned as a key witness for the tribunal in October
- If this is the case, he would miss England’s preparations for the World Cup
England could have their Twenty20 World Cup preparations significantly disrupted due to some of their players potentially being asked to give evidence in the Yorkshire racism tribunal shortly before the tournament gets underway, according to reports.
The tribunal is due to take place in October when England’s squad are set to jet off to Australia prior to their World Cup opener against Afghanistan on October 22.
The case, which comes following allegations made by former Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq, is due to be heard by the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC), and they have the right to summon anyone to attend, which could lead to them wanting to speak to leg-spinner Adil Rashid, as reported by The Telegraph.
Azeem Rafiq came forward to accuse some of his former team-mates of racially abusing him last year
Adil Rashid corroborated an allegation he made against ex-England captain Michael Vaughan
Michael Vaughan has denied that he made the remark towards the club’s Muslim players
Rashid has represented Yorkshire for the past 16 years since making his debut in 2006, and he corroborated an accusation made by Rafiq last year that ex-England captain Michael Vaughan told Muslim players at the club in 2009: ‘Too many of you lot. We need to do something about it.’
Vaughan has denied the allegation made against him.
A preliminary hearing is set to start on Wednesday looking into racism charges brought against Vaughan and five other former Yorkshire cricketers by the ECB.
Ex-internationals Matthew Hoggard, Tim Bresnan and Gary Ballance have also been charged with allegedly using racist language towards Rafiq, but their legal teams are expected to raise alleged flaws in the ECB’s investigation.
Should Rashid or any other members of the England team be summoned to attend October’s tribunal, they would be ruled out of the side’s build up to the World Cup.
Rashid may be summoned to the tribunal, leading to him missing England’s World Cup build up
This would be a blow for new limited-overs coach Matthew Mott, who has endured a difficult start to his tenure, with England losing three of their four series on home soil under his watch this summer.
Rashid has been a key player for England in recent years, starting every match in the team’s World Cup triumph in 2019.
He is also England’s second-highest wicket-taker in the shortest format of the international game, having claimed 83 dismissals.
England are set to play Pakistan in seven Twenty20 matches next month, and all of those games are due to take place before the tribunal starts.
However, they are then lined up to face Australia in three games in early October, and these fixtures could clash with the Yorkshire racism case.
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