ECB suspends official over racial remarks on former England player Devon Malcolm

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are trying their level best to come out of the recent Aseem Rafiq racial scandal that hit County cricket in 2020 unscattered.

Even before the fiasco over at Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC) settles down, the ECB is witnessing another case of racism after it suspended a senior board official over his remarks on former Test player Devon Malcolm.

According to Telegraph Sport, the said employee is understood to have been asked to step down from his post while undergoing an investigation. Allegedly, the official earlier in the season remarked about Malcolm only being visible to him when he smiles.

The comments came as a shock, as the ECB included Malcolm in its match referee panel last year.

The ECB's appointment of Malcolm was made keeping in mind the allegations made by former officials John Holder and Ismail Dawood about their careers being cut short due to "institutionalised racism".

However, these claims were withdrawn after the governing body's new appointments.

Malcolm has played 40 Tests for England, picking up 128 wickets, including five 5-wicket hauls and two 10-wicket hauls, in his career from 1989 to 1997. In between, he played 10 ODIs as well for the Three Lions.

Playing domestic cricket for clubs like Derbyshire, Northamptonshire, and Leicestershire, the right-arm went on to play 304 First-Class and 185 List-A matches, where he picked 1,054 and 249 wickets, respectively.

Recently, responding to Rafiq's claims, former Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale refused to present himself in front of the ECB's disciplinary committee. Gale had earlier won the court against Yorkshire, who sacked him in light of Rafiq's statement on the former.

While presenting his evidence to the Parliamentary committee last year, Rafiq named Gale as one of the personnel who discriminated against and bullied the player during his two stints with the county club.