Colin Graves stands up to grandstanding grilling from Scottish MP - Chris Waters

“Colin Graves is back in Yorkshire, (Lord) Botham dismissed the (ICEC) report and is chair of Durham, and David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd continues, I think it’s fair to say, to brief against Azeem (Rafiq)... So, some people might say, what’s changed?”” said Nicolson.

He further complained that Lloyd - who was neither invited to defend himself nor whose alleged ‘briefings’ were ever elaborated on - had earlier “blocked me on social media”.

“To be honest, I didn’t know who he was,” said Nicolson pointedly and somewhat acidly, saying that “it simply seemed to be because I was asking sympathetic questions” (at previous racism hearings).

Warming to his work, Nicolson queried whether Botham’s dismissal of the ICEC (Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket) report, which the former England all-rounder described as “a complete and utter waste of money” that he “threw on the floor”, was characteristic of a prevailing malaise.

“Is that the last gasp of an old dinosaur?” enquired Nicolson, with ‘Brontosaurus’ Botham also not there to defend himself as the Scotsman attacked him under parliamentary privilege.

It was into this atmosphere of cordiality and general bonhomie that Colin Graves, the returning Yorkshire chair, and a man who has somehow come to symbolise the face of cricketing recrudescence, walked like a man about to meet his maker.

After the ICEC chair/commissioners and the England and Wales Cricket Board had taken their turn in front of the committee, Graves came on like the headline act at a doom metal festival, albeit with no chance for a soundcheck to check his output/levels.

Dressed in a dark suit in keeping with the occasion, and sat alongside Harry Chathli, the previous Yorkshire chair, Graves was grilled about everything from the club’s finances as to why, after effectively being pressed on the day to apologise to Rafiq, he had not done so previously.

Again it was Nicolson off the long run… only this time coming from almost behind the sightscreen.

“Mr Graves, I’m curious about your apology to Azeem Rafiq,” he said.

"You’ve given a general apology, you’ve apologised here to him. Why haven’t you picked up the phone to apologise to him?”

“Certainly from my point of view, I didn’t feel that was appropriate at the time,” said Graves.

“Why?”

“I’ve apologised today, to Mr Rafiq, and anybody else who experienced any discrimination or racism.”

“Why wasn’t it appropriate to phone him?”

“I just had plenty of things going on around not to pick up the phone to Mr Rafiq.”

“You were too busy to phone him?”

“I didn’t say I was too busy.”

“Plenty of things going on and you couldn’t phone him?”

“Fine, if that’s how you see it, I don’t see it like that.”

“So, over this long period of time, with this huge controversy, with this man experiencing appalling behaviour, including just last week an attack on his parents’ home, and you had too many things going on to phone him?”

“I’ve been out of cricket, Mr Nicolson, since September 2020. I have not been involved with running any form of cricket until I just got back in working with Yorkshire 11 days ago.”

“You didn't have to be actively involved in cricket to phone him and to apologise for what had happened under your tenure.”

“Fine, I didn’t do it.”

“I don’t know why you’re saying ‘fine’. It’s not fine. It’s really not fine. It’s appalling. If I was in your position - I think anybody in your position - would have picked up the phone, and I just don’t understand why you’ve not phoned him if you’re sincere in your apology.”

“I’m very sincere in my apology.”

“But you can’t explain why you haven’t phoned him apart from being generally too busy?”

“I just didn’t do it.”

Nicolson’s grandstanding act over, further googlies were batted off by Graves before matters closed on a note of incongruous good cheer.

“We’re very grateful that you’ve fronted up,” smiled Dame Caroline Dinenage, the CMS chair.

“It’s never an easy thing to do.”

Crikey.

Eat your heart out, Julian Knight...