Essex chair John Faragher resigns after an allegation of use of racist language

John Faragher has resigned from his role as Essex chair with immediate effect following a historic allegation of racist language used by him at a board meeting in 2017.

Faragher stepped down on Thursday and while he strongly denies the incident, the club are intent on reviewing why it was not fully and independently investigated at the time.

An Essex CCC statement read: “Essex County Cricket Club does not tolerate discrimination of any kind and will immediately consider further steps the Club must take.”

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Faragher strongly denies the incident, however, Essex CCC said it will review why it was not fully and independently investigated at the time.

No place for discrimination at Essex

New chief executive John Stephenson said: “There is no place for discrimination of any kind at Essex County Cricket Club.

“This is a proud club with a zero-tolerance policy towards racism and any form of discrimination and, as Essex Cricket’s new chief executive officer, I will not hesitate to uphold those principles and drive out any form of discrimination that is uncovered.

“I was made aware of this single allegation on Thursday having joined the Club four weeks ago. The Board met last night [Thursday] during which John Faragher’s resignation was unanimously accepted by the Board.

“We are committed to working with the England & Wales Cricket Board to eradicate discrimination from the game. This is an important first step, but the Club must now act further. Our internal reporting mechanisms will be reviewed to ensure that matters such as this are dealt with appropriately and immediately.

“I intend for those next actions to be communicated as soon as possible.”

Essex have made it clear that the club will make no further comment until an investigation has been completed.

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