Yorkshire CCC racism latest: Rich Pyrah joins Matthew Hoggard, Tim Bresnan and Andrew Gale in withdrawing from ECB hearing into Azeem Rafiq claims

As alluded to in The Yorkshire Post on Saturday, Pyrah joins Andrew Gale, Matthew Hoggard, Tim Bresnan and John Blain in refusing to attend the hearing.

It leaves former England captain Michael Vaughan as the only charged individual still set to appear at a disciplinary hearing at the start of next month.

The England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed Pyrah’s absence in an update released about the process on Tuesday.

The ECB said the charges against those individuals would still be heard in their absence.

Pyrah played for Yorkshire between 2001 and 2015.

His decision to withdraw means that of the seven individuals originally charged in June last year, only Vaughan is set to attend the Cricket Discipline Commission hearing next month.

The ECB confirmed another former Yorkshire player, Gary Ballance, would not attend having admitted liability in response to the charge against him for his use of racially discriminatory language.

The governing body also said Yorkshire had admitted four amended charges, including a failure to address systemic use of racist and/or discriminatory language over a prolonged period and a failure to take adequate action in respect of allegations of racist and/or discriminatory behaviour. As a result, representatives of the club would not be participating in the hearing, the ECB confirmed.

The dates for the hearing were confirmed as March 1 to 9.

In a statement, Yorkshire CCC said: “The Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC) today confirms that it has admitted four amended charges in the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) proceedings brought by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), resolving liability.

“All of the charges relate to conduct which may be prejudicial to the interests of cricket and/or may bring the ECB and/or the game of cricket into disrepute. Such conduct is said to have occurred between 2004 and 2021.

“The parties are to appear before the CDC Panel, on a date to be confirmed, to make submissions as to sanction.

“While the proceedings are ongoing, the Club is unable to provide further information in relation to the case.”

Lord Kamlesh Patel, co-chair of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, said: “Today’s announcement is an important step forward for Yorkshire County Cricket Club as part of its journey to learn from the past. Since becoming Chair it has been clear that we needed to accept and take accountability as a club for the cultural issues which allowed racist and discriminatory behaviour to go unchallenged.

“We should be proud of the work that has been done to build new foundations for a club whose ambition is to become truly welcome to all. As I leave the position as chair, it is fundamental that the recently installed board and leadership team at the club continue on this mission and I know that they are as committed as I have been to bring Yorkshire back to where it should be, on and off the pitch.”

Following confirmation that Yorkshire had admitted the charges, Rafiq said in a statement: “I want to thank both Yorkshire and Gary for doing the right thing and wish them all the best for the future.”

Rafiq has previously alleged Vaughan told him and a group of other players of Asian ethnicity there were “too many of you lot, we need to do something about it” during a huddle before a Yorkshire match in 2009.

Adil Rashid and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan have both corroborated Rafiq’s account of the incident.

Ajmal Shahzad launched a staunch defence of Vaughan stating he did not hear Vaughan say these words, and Vaughan himself strenuously denies the allegation.