John Faragher resigns as Essex chair following racist language allegation

Faragher denies the allegation, which came to the attention of new chief executive John Stephenson, at a board meeting in 2017

John Faragher has resigned as Essex chair following a historic allegation of racist language used by him at a board meeting in 2017.

Faragher denies the allegation, which came to the attention of the county’s new chief executive, John Stephenson, on Thursday. He subsequently stepped down following a board meeting.

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

It added that the county would review why the alleged incident was not fully and independently investigated at the time.

Stephenson said: “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.”

The Cricketer understands that Mike Smith, Essex’s deputy chair, is favourite to replace Faragher.

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