Ben Stokes stresses England players have ‘a responsibility on and off field’

England captain Ben Stokes has reiterated his side’s “responsibility” to the game extends beyond the field of play, as they prepare for a Headingley Test that was at one stage threatened by the damaging allegations of institutional racism at Yorkshire.

Azeem Rafiq’s claims of institutional racism and discrimination during his time as a White Rose player earned cricket some unwanted front-page coverage after his appearance in front of a parliamentary select committee last year.

Further accusations, about Yorkshire, as well as other counties, followed in what will go down as a bleak moment of reckoning for the sport, with the England and Wales Cricket Board at one point suspending Headingley’s right to host international cricket.

We know as international cricketers we do have a responsibility on and off the field.- Ben Stokes

The financial setbacks of that sanction could have killed the club off as a going concern but it was eventually lifted after initiatives set in place by a newly appointed chair, Lord Kamlesh Patel, persuaded the ECB that the issues were being dealt with appropriately.

The tale is far from told, with ECB disciplinary charges laid against the club and “a number of individuals”, but the return of the Test side over the next five days represents some form of business as usual.

Patel has surprisingly been noticeable only by his absence during the practice days at Headingley and, with no other appearances from Yorkshire management, it was left to Stokes to field questions on the matter.

Just a few weeks into the role and with a Test series ongoing, it was perhaps unfair to expect him to carry the load.

“I’ve got my responsibilities for the team that I’m in charge of at the moment,” he said. “And we’ve got a