Yorkshire are on the brink of appointing Darren Gough as their new director of cricket. The former England fast bowler, who spent 15 years at the club in two spells as a player, could even announce the news on his radio show on Monday before being unveiled at Headingley on Wednesday.

The 51-year-old would need to take a huge pay cut – reportedly as much as £150,000 – to leave his role as a presenter at talkSPORT.

Gough lives in Essex, and Yorkshire were said on Sunday to be prepared to offer him flexible working arrangements so he did not need to relocate his family to the north.

His appointment could be announced on the same day Yorkshire’s sacked staff meet with lawyers today to discuss taking legal action en masse against the club’s cull of their entire coaching team.

All 16 of those fired in the wake of the racism scandal could be present for a lunchtime summit at a Leeds law-firm, which appears certain to trigger a wave of wrongful or unfair dismissal claims.

Telegraph Sport has been told that many of those involved are “ready to fight” after being sacked without warning on Friday morning before being refused leave to appeal a decision that threatens to wreck their entire careers.

There is growing acceptance among the 16 that none of them have any chance of getting their jobs back but there is a determination to force the club to retract a finding of “gross misconduct” against them, apologise, and compensate them accordingly.

A source close to one of those involved said: “You’ve got to save your reputation here because everyone thinks at the moment that those 16 people have gone because they’re racist. If that word’s next to you then you don’t get another job in the game. There’s no chance.”

Among the reasons the club gave staff for sacking them were that they had “been aware” of “derogatory and discriminatory language” while working there and had “failed to take steps to address that language and behaviour”.

Telegraph Sport can reveal that not all of those fired were at Yorkshire with Azeem Rafiq, whose complaint three years ago that he had been racially abused while a player there – something upheld by an investigation – was handled in a way their former chairman admitted amounted to institutional racism.

“They can’t get away with this,” the source added of an “indiscriminate” cull that even provoked a player revolt.

As well as sacking director of cricket Martyn Moxon and head coach Andrew Gale, Yorkshire fired signatories of a letter, revealed by Telegraph Sport, accusing their board of failing to stand up to Rafiq’s “one-man mission to bring down the club”.

Sent on October 14, the letter criticised Rafiq’s behaviour at the club and even expressed fury over an apology issued when it was revealed seven of his 43 abuse claims were proven.

The correspondence laid bare for the first time the “extreme hurt” of staff, who felt they and the county were facing unfair attacks.

Their signing of the letter – which was marked “private and confidential” – was cited by Yorkshire as further evidence of their “gross misconduct”.

Lord Patel, the county’s new chairman, has spoken previously of offering Rafiq a role at the club and sacking those who complained about the former spinner may now pave the way for his return.

Yorkshire have also faced accusations that Friday’s dismissals were designed to ensure a ban was lifted on Headingley hosting England matches amid fears the county would otherwise go bankrupt.

England head coach Chris Silverwood, who spent most of his playing career at Yorkshire and also coached at Essex – another county dragged into cricket’s racism scandal – spoke for the first time on Sunday about the crisis engulfing the English game.

Asked if he had seen or heard anything inappropriate, he said: “I’m not sure I did. I look back on it and, obviously, some of the people that are involved were friends of mine and I’ve worked closely with. So, it is something I have reflected back on.

“I would hope that if I had heard it, I would have said something. But I know moving forward if I hear anything, I will stand up for it. It’s not something that I believe belongs in the dressing room. I don’t believe it’s something that anybody should be subjected to, either.”