Yorkshire’s ambition to reclaim international stature gets hampered by the cancellation of the EGM

Yorkshire’s efforts to reclaim international cricket this summer have been hampered after the club was forced to postpone a planned Emergency General Meeting (EGM), which was intended to endorse governance reforms following the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal. The EGM, which was to be held on Wednesday evening, called off after Yorkshire admitted it “had not been properly called under club rules”.

“After it was brought to the club’s attention in recent days that the meeting had not been properly called under club rules, the decision to cancel the EGM scheduled for February 2 was based on professional legal advice. This was a legacy issue because the club’s former leadership failed to guarantee that the modified club regulations were registered with the financial conduct authority. At the March 2020 and March 2021 annual general meetings, members overwhelmingly adopted the relevant revisions to the club regulations. Because of this inability to register the amendments, the club now knows that the notice of the 2021 meeting and this EGM should have been sent to members exclusively by mail, rather than by mail and electronic methods, such as the YCCC website”, said in a statement released by Yorkshire.

Following the EGM, Martin Darlow, the ECB’s deputy chair, told the Committee of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport that the governing body “will be making a decision and examining their alternatives.” Last month, Rafiq stated the “timing is perfect” for Yorkshire to reclaim its hosting rights.