Still no end in sight to the Yorkshire CCC racism crisis after latest hearing

“It is going to take time for the full decisions to be made and for them to be available in writing,” said O’Gorman. “That is going to take several weeks.”

Just when you thought - in fact, just when it had been widely reported - that decisions would emerge from yesterday’s hearing, the upshot was only further delays.

And with sanctions against Yorkshire not due to be considered until June 27, despite the club having long ago admitted to various charges, the prospect of a couple of motorways being built from scratch, or a new cathedral or two springing up in the meantime, surely cannot be ruled out before this protracted process comes to an end.

As Darren Gough has stated, perhaps not entirely tongue-in-cheek, will Yorkshire even know their sanctions going into next season?

Quite what the CDC/ECB has been doing since late March, when it was judged that John Blain, Tim Bresnan, Andrew Gale, Matthew Hoggard and Richard Pyrah had used racist language, leaving only sanctions to be decided, is unclear.

Gary Ballance had admitted to the charges against him prior to the early March hearings, which were attended only by Michael Vaughan, who was subsequently cleared.

As prosecutor in this case, the ECB recommended that Ballance - who acknowledged using racial slurs towards former team-mate and friend Azeem Rafiq in a so-called jocular sense - be hit with the stiffest penalty: an £8,000 fine and eight-week suspension. Given that the Zimbabwe-born player retired last month, however, the suspension seemed as superfluous as giving someone 999 years for murder.

Jane Mulcahy KC, the ECB lawyer, said: “We understand there has been a significant impact on Mr Ballance’s mental health, and that in April 2023, Mr Ballance announced his retirement from professional cricket, so the ECB therefore suggests there be a reprimand, and Mr Ballance be fined £8,000, reduced from £12,500 to take in effect of his admissions.

“We also suggest a strong recommendation be made that he attend a racism and discrimination course at his own expense, particularly if he intends to return to the game in a playing or coaching capacity, and also an eight-week suspension, reduced from 10, if Mr Ballance ever returns to ECB-regulated cricket as a player.”

Ballance’s lawyer, Craig Harris, argued that the financial penalty should be reduced due to the fact that Ballance subsequently left Yorkshire, was not considered for England selection, lost a sponsorship deal and was part of “a culture in which the use of such language had become normalised, and where there appears to have been a degree of mutual acceptance that jokes - which ought to have no place in a dressing room or in society – did develop”.

Mr Harris claimed: “The language got worse all the time that squad spent together and there was no club intervention to eradicate it. He (Ballance) is somebody who himself accepted such jokes being made towards him.”

As for the other ex-Yorkshire players charged, none of whom attended any CDC hearings, having lost faith in the ECB’s process/integrity, the governing body recommended that they be reprimanded and undertake training courses at their own expense.

It was further advocated that Gale be fined £7,500 and suspended for four weeks were he to return to coaching; Hoggard fined £7,500; Blain and Bresnan fined £5,000 each, and Pyrah fined £4,000 and suspended for two weeks were he to return to coaching. Last night, there were suggestions that some of those charged will refuse to pay fines.

In a separate development, Blain has launched a crowdfunding appeal to help fund his legal costs. In a statement, the former Scotland bowler said: “Despite being entirely innocent of these allegations, I was advised by my lawyers to withdraw from the inadequate ECB process due to its many fundamental flaws.

“The evidence given was one-sided, partial and in some areas simply untrue. I have never used such language. This is supported by many independent witnesses, many of whom were team-mates.

“I’m hugely indebted to the thousands of people in the global cricketing community – many, many of them from an Asian background – who have shown me such unwavering support.

“I remain determined to take whatever legal actions are required to clear my name and have launched a GoFundMe page for that purpose.”