Rafiq saga stranger than fiction

1:56pm Sunday 13th July 2008

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If it’s not one thing with Twenty20 cricket this summer, it’s another. It may very well be a popular concept but I have become fed up with it now.

First we have all sorts of issues with Indian Cricket League rebels, eligibility and the lucrative Champions League.

Despite the fact that I have never met Lalit Modi, the vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the chairman and commissioner for the Indian Premier League, the chap has caused me more problems than a traffic jam on the M1.

I just wanted to watch some good 20-over cricket without the shenanigans. And to be fair, I did get my wish for a while.

The vast majority of Yorkshire’s North Division games were excellent value for money. A tie against Durham at Headingley, when Gareth Breese hit a six off the final ball, was the prime example.

But just when I thought it could not get any stranger, it did. A previously little known off-spinner from Barnsley, 17-year-old Azeem Rafiq, was fired to the tip of everybody’s tongue.

From Monday night through to Thursday night I was absolutely convinced the ECB would order Yorkshire to replay the game against Notts, in which Rafiq made his debut and bowled two overs at nought for 18.

The reason being that I thought it would be less likely for anybody to appeal; maybe Durham could have a few moans about not getting a bye but nothing major.

I was certainly not expecting the ECB to show some real courage and throw Yorkshire out.

My first impressions were that the decision was maybe a little bit harsh, considering the lack of signing a registration paper was just a clerical oversight.

Also the fact that, despite not having a British passport, Rafiq had captained England under-15s and under-16s.

But reports in some quarters suggest that Yorkshire found out as early as two years ago that Rafiq had not got a British passport when they could not take him on a youth team tour to Cape Town.

The ECB’s release, explaining their reasons for expelling Yorkshire, said: “The panel find that Yorkshire were aware, no later than early 2007, that there were questions as to the player’s immigration status and were, therefore, put on notice properly to check his eligibility.

“This was not done even though on June 27, 2008 the player was making his debut.”

I know the players are furious with the decision, and so is the club’s hierarchy, but you can’t help wondering why they did not do anything about it.

If Yorkshire knew something was amiss, and could have acted sooner, then they must take their punishment squarely on the chin.

Going back to all the Champions League/ICL eligibility rubbish, you can see what is coming an absolute country mile off now.

Essex and Middlesex, two of only three teams not to have any ICL players in their ranks, will probably qualify for the Champions League.

All the playground squabbling between boards across the world will have been for absolutely nothing.

Let’s concentrate on the County Championship.