The England and Wales Cricket Board is poised to charge up to 12 current and former Yorkshire staff over the Azeem Rafiq racism affair, it was reported on Monday. Gary Ballance, Matthew Hoggard, Andrew Gale and Tim Bresnan were named by the Daily Mail as among those facing action for bringing the game into disrepute. The ECB and Yorkshire were unavailable for comment when contacted late on Monday. 

Ballance, who was ruled out of a return to playing action last week with mental health issues, has been waiting for months for the Cricket Discipline Commission to make up its mind over a lengthy list of race claims from Rafiq. He was accused by Rafiq of calling him “P—”, using the name “Kevin” as a slur for non-white people and of calling him “Rafa the Kaffir”, the last of which he vehemently denies. Bresnan is said to have bullied Rafiq and made racial comments but has since stated: “I 100 per cent deny that I’ve ever been racist.” 

During evidence to MPs last November, Rafiq broke down in tears as he described the “inhuman” treatment he faced at Yorkshire. A 57-page witness statement, part of Rafiq’s submission to an employment tribunal and published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport select committee, also made allegations against Hoggard and the former Yorkshire coach and captain Gale. 

According to the Mail, Gale’s and Bresnan’s agent did not wish to comment, while Ballance and Hoggard’s agents did not respond to requests for comment. At Yorkshire, the scandal has already brought a clearout of club non-playing staff. There have been 16 sackings in total, including director of cricket Martyn Moxon, who had been signed off sick with stress, and Gale, originally suspended over a historic tweet containing an anti-Semitic slur. Despite having ratified reforms designed to prevent a repeat of their racism scandal, lift the ban on Headingley staging England matches and stop them going bust, Yorkshire had been unclear in recent weeks over whether they face further disciplinary action over it. 

Punishments could include a points deduction and Darren Gough, the county’s interim managing director of cricket, said last week: “As far as I’m concerned, it wouldn’t be ideal doing it mid-season. You’d want to know before the start of the season.” Last month, Yorkshire appeared close to drawing a line under the scandal as chairman Lord Patel secured a landslide mandate from members to make club changes which ensure England matches are at Headingley this summer. The ECB had conditionally lifted a suspension of internationals in February on the basis of the club meeting “several criteria” by March 31. 

Demands included the removal of vetoing “powers” for the Colin Graves Trust, which is still owed £15 million by the county. Patel’s plan to resolve the issue was to ask members to vote at the extraordinary general meeting for up to eight non-members to join Yorkshire’s board as independent non-executive directors. The lifting of the ban freed Headingley to stage England’s third Test against New Zealand in June and their third one-day international against South Africa the following month, as well as an Ashes Test next year. 

An EGM had already been twice postponed over procedural flaws identified by Smith, who also declared there to be fundamental defects in Yorkshire’s plan to put the matter to rest. That included the appointment of a majority-independent board to what is a cooperative society – although this would not be unprecedented – and a proposal to indemnify Patel over his decision to pay Rafiq £200,000 in compensation and sack the club’s entire coaching team at a potential cost of millions.

Admitting the spectre of disciplinary action could hang over the club “all season”, Gough added: “As far as the players and the coaches are concerned now, their focus has got to be on the cricket. “When I took over in January, I saw the – almost – fear in a lot of the players’ faces, and confusion. But, I’ll tell you what, three months later, what I have seen and witnessed is a team that work for each other; they’ve worked their socks off to get into a position where they’re excited about the season. “And I’m immensely proud of them – and I told them so before they went to Dubai – in what they’ve done as individuals this last few months. It’s been remarkable, really.”