Michael Vaughan will be the ONLY charged individual present at the ECB’s disciplinary hearing

Former England captain Michael Vaughan is the only accused person yet to appear at a disciplinary hearing early next month in relation to allegations of racism made by his former Yorkshire team-mate Azeem Rafiq.

The England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Tuesday that former Yorkshireman and bowler manager Richard Pyrah had advised that he would not attend, joining Andrew Gale, Matthew Hoggard, John Blain and Tim Bresnan in refusing to be involved in the proceedings.

However, the Cricket Disciplinary Commission panel will still hear the charges against those five individuals in their absence. The other individual charged, Gary Ballance, admitted to one count of using racially discriminatory language and will not appear in court, the ECB said.

The ECB revealed that Yorkshire had also admitted to four amended charges and therefore their representatives would not appear at the hearing.

These included the failure to address the systemic use of racist and/or discriminatory language over a prolonged period, and the failure to take appropriate action regarding reports of racist and/or discriminatory behavior.

Michael Vaughan will be the only defendant present at the ECB disciplinary hearing

The hearing is related to accusations of racism made by former cricketer Azeem Rafiq.

Yorkshire issued their own statement confirming they had admitted to the charges, with chairman Lord Kamlesh Patel saying: “Today’s announcement is a significant step forward for Yorkshire County Cricket Club as part of their journey to learn from the past.”

“Since taking over as president, it has become clear that we needed to accept and take responsibility as a club for the cultural issues that allowed racist and discriminatory behavior to go unchallenged.

“We should be proud of the work that has gone into building new foundations for a club whose ambition is to be truly welcome to all.

“As I step down as Chairman, it is critical that the club’s newly installed board of directors and leadership team continue this mission and I know they are as committed as I am to getting Yorkshire to where it should be, on and off the basketball court.

The ECB confirmed that the hearing would take place in London between March 1 and 9.

Rafiq has previously alleged that Vaughan told him and a group of other ethnic Asian players that “there were too many of you, we have to do something about it” during a meeting before a Yorkshire game in 2009.

Adil Rashid and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan have corroborated Rafiq’s account of the incident. Ajmal Shahzad has stated that he did not hear Vaughan say these words, and Vaughan himself strongly denies the allegation.

Rafiq first spoke about the racism he had suffered in Yorkshire, and the impact it had on his mental health, in an interview in August 2020.

Tim Bresnan, and all the other defendants besides Vaughan, refused to attend the hearing.

Defendant Matthew Hoggard has urged that the ECB’s disciplinary process has ‘failed everyone’

A subsequent independent inquiry commissioned by the county confirmed seven of the 43 allegations he made, but Yorkshire announced in October 2021 that no one would be banned as a result of the inquiry.

Yorkshire’s handling of the Rafiq case led to major changes in county leadership, with Roger Hutton resigning as chairman to be replaced by Lord Patel. The ECB also stripped the county of the right to host lucrative international matches at Headingley until governance reforms were implemented.

The ECB indicted the seven people (Ballance, Blain, Bresnan, Gale, Hoggard, Pyrah and Vaughan) in June last year, along with Yorkshire.

Rafiq has consistently stated his desire for the hearing to take place in public, a request that the CDC has upheld even after an appeal.

Hoggard, Bresnan and Blain declared their intention to retire last week. Hoggard told the BBC that the ECB’s disciplinary process had “failed everyone”.

Vaughan has blatantly denied claims that he was ever racist towards a group of Asian players.