Peel, having concluded that the suspension would end his Yorkshire career, signed a contract to play for Accrington Cricket Club. He told a newspaper that he regarded his suspension as unfair, that he had been given no opportunity to explain, and that he had taken the appointment with Accrington to provide for himself and his family. In 1900, he told "Cricket" magazine that, before his suspension, he had been bedridden for three weeks as a result of an injury he suffered while batting, that he played against Middlesex with some success and was then suspended without any explanation. He later said of the incident: "Hawke put his arm around me and escorted me off the field and out of Yorkshire cricket. What a gentleman". The journalist Harry Pearson suggests that this was "either very gracious, or exceedingly sarcastic." Hawke later described Peel's sacking as "the most decisive action of my whole career ... It had to be done for the sake of discipline and the good of cricket. Nothing ever gave me so much pain." At the time, Hawke believed these events cost Yorkshire the County Championship, but the team had only two more games to play in that season's competition, and it was mathematically impossible for them to win. Hirst told Thompson that Hawke was always sorry that Peel had to be sacked, and that whenever the pair met afterwards, they remained friends and that neither bore the other any animosity. Although Peel considered himself indispensable, the following year he was replaced by Wilfred Rhodes, who remained in the team until 1930 and took 4,184 first-class wickets. Peel remained popular with the people of Morley in the aftermath of his dismissal, and they supported him rather than believing the reports.