Yorkshire cricket have shot themselves in the foot by removing deputy chairman Phillip Hodson from their board after he was fined by the Cricket Regulator for allegedly discriminatory comments.

It was July 22 last year when Scarborough Cricket Club held their annual festival dinner. Unfortunately I spent the day in hospital and Phillip stood in for me as master of ceremonies. I came out of hospital in time to listen to the after-dinner speeches.

Phillip used light-hearted humour to make more than 200 people laugh, but two of his jokes were reported to the Cricket Regulator.

The first joke was: “I apologise for looking so tired, but this is my third dinner in as many days. On Sunday, I was at Halifax, speaking to the local haemorrhoid society, where incidentally I received a standing ovation, and on Monday I was in Hull as a guest of the Gay Liberation Front – and I must say it’s gratifying to see so many friendly and familiar faces here tonight.”

His second was: “…everybody’s getting their awards and they’ve all sold three bibles, four bibles and five bibles, but this chap sold 305 and you ask him, ‘How did you sell 305?’ and at that stage he starts to stutter. ‘Well, well, well, I go, I go and knock on the door. The lady comes to the door and I say, Would, would, would you like to buy, buy, buy a Bible or would you like me to stand here and read it to you?’”

Two people out of more than 200 guests complained to Yorkshire, who passed on the comment to the Regulator. Their identities have been kept secret and Phillip was found guilty of offensive and discriminatory comments. He was fined the lowest amount possible of £1,000.

What a ridiculous, unfair system when anyone who dislikes you or claims to be offended by what you said – or perhaps has an ulterior motive – can report you to the Cricket Regulator and destroy your reputation. All the time they stay anonymous but your life is turned upside down. How can it be right when you don’t get to know your accusers?

Using a sledgehammer to crack a nut

The England and Wales Cricket Board is wasting money setting up committees to find fault with anything anybody says. It is trying and succeeding in sanitising our cricket. It has rules that are so draconian that ex-players who work in TV, radio or newspapers can’t take the risk to join county committees or boards for fear of being disciplined. Every former cricketer can see the damage it can cause to your reputation and employment, so all that knowledge from former players is lost to cricket.

Ever since the Azeem Rafiq affair, many counties have been falling over backwards to show the world that English cricket is inclusive and diverse and not racist. We can all agree that is how we would like cricket and society to be.

My view is this was not worth a full ECB investigation in the first place. But when it did decides to look into it, was this really an appropriate punishment? Removing Phillip from his role as deputy chairman seems like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, and I cannot see how the punishment fits the crime.

After Phillip was found guilty by the ECB, the Yorkshire board discussed the sanction. After two informal board discussions, Phillip was told the vote on the board went 4-2 against him.

Colin Graves, the Yorkshire chairman, rang Phillip on January 28 to say the vote had gone against him and that Sanjay Patel, Yorkshire’s chief executive, would be in touch. Since then Phillip has been trying to agree a statement with Patel to go out to the Yorkshire members to give them the full facts.

Like me, Phillip has believed all along that Yorkshire are a members club and they have every right to be given the truth. If Yorkshire have done nothing wrong, there should be nothing to hide. Patel has resisted giving out any details.

The first statement Yorkshire made was “we are proud to be a diverse and inclusive organisation and expect everyone associated with the club to represent the club’s values”. What sanctimonious clap-trap. Yorkshire CCC are not an organisation. They are a cricket club. It goes without saying that we who love Yorkshire cricket expect anyone and everyone to be treated equally and fairly. You should not have to keep ramming it down our throats that we are an inclusive and diverse club. That seems to be all they think about.

No one could find time to thank Phillip for his help for nine days and when they did they claimed the vote had been “unanimous in its view that the outcome was in the best interests of the club”.

Graves is our chairman and has helped save Yorkshire twice, but is now living in the south. He is mainly a figurehead. Running Yorkshire cricket is left to Patel. He has been CEO for two years. He previously worked for Heineken and was a former ECB marketing man who helped Graves with the formation of the Hundred.

As a former ECB man, Patel appears to care more about keeping in with his old colleagues rather than what is best for YCCC. He may be an exceptional man when it comes to finance, but he doesn’t appear to have empathy for Yorkshire’s cricket history or that our members have a right to be informed about major decisions. We are foremost a cricket club and on top of that pride ourselves in being a members’ club.

I am informed he has a preference to develop Barnsley Cricket Club as a second ground. I love my old club Barnsley, but they have no facilities and would cost zillions to develop. For more than 100 years, Yorkshire have played at Scarborough, and our members and supporters love going to the seaside, plus our players adore playing there.

Yorkshire have made a dreadful decision getting rid of a top man. But if you appoint people to the board for the wrong reasons, then you should not be surprised when they make bad decisions.

Without Phillip, who played for Cambridge University, MCC and Yorkshire second Xl, there is nobody with any cricket knowledge on our board, and sadly those left appear to forget we are above all else a great cricket club trying to win the championship.