There was plenty of irony to go round at today’s select meeting of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee. After all, didn’t the government’s recent race commission conclude that “institutional racism doesn’t exist”? Azeem Rafiq’s testimony must have come as a shock to the all-white, predominantly male committee of MPs. A shock, too, to hear the admission from former Club Chairman Roger Hutton, answering the question of whether Yorkshire County Cricket Club was institutionally racist with “I fear it falls within that definition.”

Up next to face the irony: Tom Harrison. The same Tom Harrison who, along with other senior ECB executives, recently shared a reported 2.1 million pounds to “reward and encourage the long-term performance and growth of the organisation/game.” Hmmm. How’s that going?

Lastly, we were treated to the irony of MPs – rightly, as it goes – accusing Yorkshire and the ECB of conflicts of interest. That’s not to denigrate the character of anyone on the DCMS Committee or the importance of today’s meeting. It’s more a case of shining a light on the shamelessness that seems to pervade so much of the executive class in contemporary Britain. Maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise, when the Prime Minister has been happy enough to use another derogatory p-word, and when the government has stoked the culture wars for their own political ends.

It’s worth reflecting on why it’s taken this long to reach this point. After all, it’s been in the public domain since Rafiq’s interview to Wisden Cricket Monthly’s Taha Hashim in August 2020. Firstly, Yorkshire have been allowed to delay and prevaricate. Secondly – and credit is due for this – Rafiq presumably chose not to make it about individuals by selling the finer details of the story before the report eventually came dribbling out.

At this point, it’s probably worth reflecting on how the story finally gained traction beyond the boundary. It’s a bit chicken-and-egg. Is the reader really more interested in the gossip of who said what to whom than an accusation of institutional racism? Or is the media pushing the agenda and doing it for the clicks? Either way, it took the tenacity and decency of the estimable George Dobell to break the story. Only then did money start to talk, and Yorkshire – shedding sponsors – and the ECB – its own brand at risk – began to sweat. It says something about the fitness of the ECB to govern, that Anchor Butter was quicker to make a moral stand.

It also says much about the arrogance of the ECB – enjoying a third appearance in front of the DCMS Committee in as many years – that we are to believe that the same people who presided over this whole sorry mess are the ones to clean it up. The same ECB who have done little to halt the retreat of cricket behind a paywall and a private school hedge are now vowing to make the game more inclusive. It’s worth saying again – it’s akin to Tesco riding into town as the saviours of the high street. There has rightly been a call for a clear-out at Yorkshire – it’s difficult to conclude that the same doesn’t apply to the ECB.

In the end, it’s a reminder that the individual isn’t entirely powerless against the institution, but that it takes a whole world of courage and time and effort to exercise that power. Watching Rafiq today, it was impossible not to be impressed by his perseverance and, above all, his selflessness in getting this far. This simply has to be a watershed moment, and Rafiq’s somewhat sacrificial role in it must not go unappreciated.