Yorkshire head coach Andrew Gale is being investigated by the club over an anti-semitic post on social media, as the county's racism scandal continues.
In a now deleted post on Twitter back when Gale was Yorkshire's captain, he is said to have called Paul Dews, the former head of media at Leeds United and current head of communications at Middlesbrough, a "y**".
Yorkshire's chief executive Mark Arthur has confirmed to Jewish News that the club are looking into the matter and he described Gale's post as "completely unacceptable".
Arthur said: "This kind of behaviour would be completely unacceptable to the club. Now we are aware of it, it goes without saying that we will investigate the allegation thoroughly."
Gale told the publication that he was "completely unaware" that the term was offensive and insisted that he would not have used it had he "been aware of its offensive meaning".
"This post is part of a conversational thread between Paul Dews and myself," Gale said. "Paul worked for Leeds United Football Club at the time and I am an avid Huddersfield Town fan.
"The reference is to a chant that was prevalent at the time in relation to Leeds fans.
"Within a few minutes of the post, Paul called me and explained the meaning of the word and that it was offensive to Jews.
"I was completely unaware of this meaning and removed the post immediately.
"You must have been sent a screenshot of the post that someone took at the time and waited 11 years to release.
"I would never have used the word had I been aware of its offensive meaning and I have never used it since."
The ECB have also said they will investigate the post, saying: "We strongly condemn any form of discrimination and have procedures in place to address conduct which is alleged to be of this nature. We will investigate as part of our disciplinary process."
Leeds North West MP Alex Sobel, who is Jewish and counts Yorkshire's ground Headingley as part of his constituency, told Jewish News: "As someone who has experienced offensive racist language like this, I certainly do not consider it banter.
"This is yet another example of casual racism coming from a trusted member within our cricket club.
"The picture is getting clearer by the day of a serious cultural problem not just at the club, but in cricket more widely. We need root and branch reform in the game."
