Azeem Rafiq: Yorkshire deserve England games at Headingley, says former player

Yorkshire's suspension from hosting England games should be lifted for taking a "step in the right direction" following the racism scandal at the club, says former player Azeem Rafiq.

Headingley lost its international status in November over the club's handling of Rafiq's case.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has asked Yorkshire to meet certain conditions by early spring.

"I want to see England playing at Headingley this summer," said Rafiq.

"At first in all this I believed international cricket should be taken away from them.

"But they have done enough to warrant getting it back, for now at least."

At the time of stripping the matches from Yorkshire, the ECB said the county's major-match status would remain suspended until it "clearly demonstrated that it can meet the standards expected".

Former chairman Roger Hutton and chief executive Mark Arthur have since resigned, and 16 members of staff, including director of cricket Martyn Moxon and first-team coach Andrew Gale, have been sacked.

Lord Patel has taken over as chairman, with former Yorkshire and England pace bowler Darren Gough coming in as director of cricket.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Rafiq said what the club and Lord Patel had done since his Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee hearing on 16 November is "definitely a step in the right direction".

"They should be given back the international cricket so vital to their very survival," added Rafiq.

"The people of Yorkshire should be able to watch England in Test and white-ball games at Headingley this summer.

"If we are asking an institution to look at itself then we should recognise when it begins to show it is genuinely sorry and attempts to start putting things right. Yorkshire need to be supported and helped to move in that right direction."

Headingley was due to host England's third Test against New Zealand on 23 June and their third one-day international against South Africa on 24 July.

An ECB investigation into allegations made by Rafiq and others, and Yorkshire's handling of the case, is ongoing.

However, a decision on this summer's major matches will be made before the investigation is concluded in order to aid logistics and give clarity to ticket holders.

As well as appointing Gough as director of cricket until the end of the 2022 season, Yorkshire have also hired former England seamers Ryan Sidebottom and Steve Harmison to join their coaching staff on an interim basis.

Rafiq said Gough will "get things done" and his appointment was the right move by Yorkshire.

"It's no secret we are friends since he was one of my first captains and we have always stayed in touch," he said.

"I'm encouraged by his involvement, not least because the game needs people like him back directly involved."

Rafiq, who told the DCMS select committee that English cricket is "institutionally" racist, reiterated that the problem in not unique to Yorkshire.

"I am not saying everything is now hunky-dory at my old county and we can all move on," he said.

"Yorkshire must be kept under review to make sure this really is the start of something important and meaningful - everything is not fine yet, not by a long way.

"It just seems outside the county everyone wants to throw the book at Yorkshire and my concern is some want to do that in order to make themselves look better or deflect attention away from their issues.

"I don't agree with that because it will not drive change.

"There are thousands of cases outside Yorkshire and what is happening to them today could easily happen to another county tomorrow."