Since their last County Championship game, Yorkshire cricket had been torn apart. Revelations over the winter months had showed the club to be “institutionally racist,” in the words of their former chairman – and, most immediately, led to Yorkshire losing 16 staff and paying Azeem Rafiq compensation in his employment tribunal case for the racism he received as a player. The club’s trial is not yet over, either; an ongoing investigation against Yorkshire could yet lead to further sanctions.
But at 11am on a cool, overcast day in Bristol, Yorkshire finally returned to their raison d’être – playing cricket – even as players recognise the wider role to repair the fabric of the club.
“As a professional cricketer you don’t just have a contract to play cricket, you have a contract to do appearances, go and see kids and try and inspire the next generation – try and make it a game for everyone,” said Matt Fisher after play.
Fisher said that what was called a moment of reflection – when Yorkshire’s players stood on the boundary edge in silence before the day – was a small step in building a more inclusive future.
“What happened this morning and the announcements around the game – that’s what I want to see more of, because it does put in people’s minds that if you’re going to a T20 game and there’s announcements that racism has no place at our club then it hopefully stops people doing it. At T20 games across the country there are times that it happens – that’s awful and we need to stamp it out,” he said.
Almost the solitary bright spot of Yorkshire’s winter was Fisher making his Test debut in the West Indies. He was the standout player as Yorkshire enjoyed a fine opening day, restricting Gloucestershire to 227 all out before reaching 37-0 at the close.
It is always interesting to observe cricketers returning to the shires from international duty. Fisher’s performance – showing the virtues of a new and longer run-up that he first honed before his Test debut in Barbados, which is designed to give him extra momentum through the crease, meaning he doesn’t need to strain for extra pace – suggested that England recognition might be the catalyst for his growth as a bowler.
He claimed three wickets, including James Bracey, with balls that led the batsmen to prod on the front foot, and another – Miles Hammond – with a short ball. In between times there was scarcely a loose delivery: Fisher snared 4-19 in 14.1 overs.
“I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders,” Fisher said of fulfilling his lifetime’s dream and playing for England. “I could just stand at the top of my mark and let it come out, let the ball do the talking.
“There are a lot of bowlers with a better record than me, but they have invested in me and I want to remember that.” On this evidence, England might soon have cause to do so again.
While Fisher showed the virtues of arriving for the Championship fresh from a winter of ample red-ball cricket, so did Marcus Harris. Three days after arriving from Pakistan, where he was reserve batsman for Australia in their series victory, Harris cut and drove his way to a magnificent 136. None of his team-mates passed 21 as Gloucestershire’s hopes of a total approaching 300 were extinguished by Haris Rauf, who was on the opposing side to Harris during Pakistan’s series with Australia.
The 66th over of Gloucestershire’s innings, from Rauf, contained enough drama to fill a novel. Ryan Higgins edged consecutive balls from Rauf behind, where keeper Harry Duke missed them both, but Higgins promptly pulled him straight to midwicket before Tom Lace was snared from his first ball by a cocktail of pace and reverse swing: exactly the point of difference that counties crave from their overseas players.
