London: Australian batsman Darren Lehmann will be retained as Yorkshire county captain next season despite his five match suspension for making racial remarks, a spokesman for the club said on Saturday. The 32-year-old was found guilty of breaching the International Cricket Council's (ICC) racial vilification code by ICC match referee Clive Lloyd during a three-hour hearing here on Saturday. A seething Lehmann made the remark when he returned to the dressing room after being run out in a One-day match with Sri Lanka earlier in the week for which he subsequently apologised and which was accepted by the tourists. However, Yorkshire's director of cricket Geoff Cope said he had been punished enough. "As far as Yorkshire is concerned the ICC have dealt with the matter and it is time to move on," he told Channel Four. Cope rejected claims that Lehmann was a racist. "Knowing Darren as we do it is completely out of character. Darren is first to be saying he does not give his wicket away. "He came off the pitch and through the members enclosure without saying a word and it was only when he entered the dressing room that he made the remark which unfortunately for him was heard in the Sri Lankan dressing room. "As far as I am concerned the dressing room is a sanctuary for players and nothing said there should be repeated outside of it."

Extras:
Lehmann's suspension a 'cruel twist of fate': Chappell

Tags: cricket, vb series, one-day series, darren lehmann, yorkshire, international cricket council's (icc), racial vilification, match referee, clive lloyd, geoff cope, channel four.