Yorkshire has announced its partnership with Lahore Qalandars of Pakistan Super League and has also signed bowler Haris Rauf.
Following a serious racism issue at the English club, Yorkshire announced a partnership with Lahore Qalandars of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), which includes a player exchange program, through which the county has signed the talented fast pace bowler Haris Rauf.
Yorkshire, who has been criticized for failing to develop South Asian cricketers on their doorstep, claimed the new collaboration would allow them to “learn from and emulate” the Qalandars’ player development program, which provides opportunities and equipment to over 150 young players.
Haris Rauf will join Yorkshire as an overseas player for a portion of next season as part of an exchange scheme designed to allow international players to learn from one another.
Young players from Yorkshire will be able to play in Lahore on scholarship, and Pakistani cricketers will get the opportunity to visit England.
On top of that Yorkshire county club will visit Pakistan on January 16th to play a friendly game against Lahore Qalandars in their home ground, Gaddafi Stadium.
Former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq, who was born in Pakistan, accused the county of failing to appropriately deal with his complaints of abuse while at the club, claiming he was pushed to suicidal thoughts.
The whole scene caused the club’s chairman and chief executive to quit in November, followed by the entire coaching staff earlier this month.
Yorkshire’s new chairman, Kamlesh Patel, expressed his hope that the partnership would contribute to the creation of a county that is “welcoming and helpful to everybody.”
“The work the Lahore Qalandars do both on and off the pitch is remarkable and can serve as a benchmark for clubs around the world, ours included, for how best to spot, foster, and support talent at all levels in the game of cricket,” he continued.Interim director of cricket Darren Gough said he was “thrilled” to welcome Rauf, who has represented Pakistan in one-day and T20 cricket and was looking forward to learning from the player development program.
