A cricket-loving Asian peer and former ‘Yorkshireman of the year’ has been handed the task of leading the club out of the worst crisis in its history.
Kamlesh, now 61, arrived from Kenya with his family to Yorkshire in the 1960s. His childhood passion for cricket was what made him a prominent public figure.
Made a life peer – Baron Patel of Bradford – in 2006, he served as a minister in Gordon Brown’s Labour government.
He is a qualified social worker and was recently elected chairman of Social Work England. His expertise includes drug abuse and mental disorders. In 2000, he received an OBE. He was also named Yorkshireman the Year by the Yorkshire Society.
In an attempt to rescue Yorkshire Cricket from its current financial crisis, Lord Kamlesh Ptel has been named the head of Yorkshire cricket.
Lord Patel (pictured) was elected to the House of Lords after serving as a minister in Gordon Brown’s government.
Lord Patel has exceptional cricket credentials. In 2012, Lord Patel was appointed the first British Asian Director of the England and Wales Cricket Board. He resigned last year.
According to him, the game played a crucial role in his escape from Bradford’s inner-city streets. ‘I was a little kid, but I became captain of the school cricket team and that changed everything,’ he said last year.
It led to an invitation from a local club to participate in the sport. ‘I just loved the sport and it gave me a break to then do a multitude of jobs,’ he added.