Exclusive: Umpires chief suspended over Devon Malcolm 'racism slur' leaves ECB

The umpires’ manager accused of making a racist slur about Devon Malcolm has left the England & Wales Cricket Board.

The departure of Chris Kelly, suspended over an alleged jibe about being unable to see England player turned match referee Malcolm until he smiles, was confirmed in an internal email from Neil Snowball, the ECB’s managing director of county cricket and major events.

The email was sent on Monday, three days after Telegraph Sport exclusively revealed Kelly – in post for more than 16 years – had been stood down pending an investigation.

It made no mention of the allegation, the outcome of the probe, or of a previous suspension of Kelly by the ECB in 2020 following “serious complaints” from colleagues.

Snowball wrote: “You will be aware that over recent weeks, Chris Kelly has been taking some time off from his role as Professional Umpires’ Manager and I am writing to confirm that Chris has now left the ECB.

“Over the last two months Chris’ day to day responsibilities have been covered by our Head of Officiating, Richard Glynne-Jones, and I can confirm that this will continue for the remainder of the season.

“I would like to thank you all for your continued dedication and professionalism during this period. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Richard Glynne-Jones or myself.”

Kelly’s alleged slur about one of English cricket’s most popular figures was made around a year after the ECB announced Malcolm as one of five new appointments to its match referee panel.

It did so after being sued by former officials John Holder and Ismail Dawood, who claimed their careers had been cut short due to “institutionalised racism” there.

Holder and Dawood, who pointed out no ethnic minority umpires had been