Racism related Data deleted by the Yorkshire Cricket Club

The Yorkshire County Cricket Club has assured that records related to allegations of racism and its reactions to those accounts had been "irretrievably deleted", which could be prejudicial to the welfare of the tournament in the nation.

Azeem Rafiz, a Pakistan-born cricketer who played for the Yorkshire Club for more than 10 years, had contended that the racism at the club had left him on the verge of suicide. Later he explained in front of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMS) in the United Kingdom, describing his trial when he was at the club and how institutional racism was unhindered there.

The aftermath of the allegations forced Yorkshire to dismiss a majority of its management and coaching staff. Lord Kamlesh Patel took over as the chairperson of the countryside and revolutionized certain aspects of the rules to counter racism.

"It has been reported in a number of news outlets that, in relation to the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) inquiry, the Club has admitted a charge of deletion of data and documents," read a report published by Yorkshire on Thursday following an outcry in the media over the deleted files. 

"After 5 November 2021, it was discovered that emails and documents, both held electronically by the club and in paper copy, had been irretrievably deleted from both servers and laptops and otherwise destroyed.

"The CDC proceedings are ongoing and, as such, we are limited as to what we can say at this time. After a thorough independent investigation, it was established that the deletion and destruction of the date of the documents from a time period prior to the appointment of Lord Patel relate to the allegations of racism and the club's response to those allegations."

Yorkshire club also added that it was not sure why and how the deletion occurred and who was accountable for the action.

"The Club is not prepared to conjecture publicly as to why this occurred, who was responsible or the motivation for doing so. The ICO was of course informed of the position at the time of discovery, and no further action was taken."

The report said the England and Wales Cricket Council had been informed of the annihilation of data, which had said it could be prejudicial to the welfare of the game.

"The England and Wales Cricket Council was also informed of the position, which led to a charge being brought on the basis that the conduct (deletion/destruction) may be prejudicial to the interests of cricket and/or which may bring the England and Wales Cricket Council and/or the game of cricket into disrepute. The Club has admitted this charge, as there was no viable defence in these circumstances."