The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have pledged to investigate claims they failed to pursue allegations of racism at Essex that were lodged in 2018.
John Faragher has resigned as chairman at the club, following an allegation that he used racist language at a board meeting in 2017.
Faragher has stepped down despite strenuously denying the allegations, but the ECB will now look into claims the matter was raised with English cricket's governing body in 2018.
Essex have also pledged a full review into the allegations, but the ECB will now also come under scrutiny for reportedly failing to act when necessary.
An ECB spokesperson said: "There is absolutely no place for racism or any form of discrimination in our game.
"The England and Wales Cricket Board opened an investigation into Essex County Cricket Club after receiving an allegation involving John Faragher, who has subsequently resigned as the club chair. The ECB is taking this allegation extremely seriously.
"Alongside our investigation we are looking into concerns that the allegation was initially raised with us in 2018."
This incident comes after English cricket was rocked by the revelations at Yorkshire, after former player Azeem Rafiq's allegations of institutional racism at Headingley.
On Thursday, Mark Arthur resigned from his role as chief executive over the storm.
Roger Hutton had already left his role as chairman and director of cricket Martyn Moxon has been signed off with a "stress-related illness". First-team coach Andrew Gale is also currently suspended pending an investigation into an offensive but unrelated historic tweet.
Speaking following Faragher's departure, Essex's new chief executive John Stephenson said: "There is no place for discrimination of any kind at Essex County Cricket Club.
"This is a proud club with a zero-tolerance policy towards racism and any form of discrimination and, as Essex Cricket's new chief executive officer, I will not hesitate to uphold those principles and drive out any form of discrimination that is uncovered."
Stephenson took over the running of Essex in October and said he first found out about the alleged incident which involved Faragher this week.
He added: "I was made aware of this single allegation on Thursday having joined the club four weeks ago. The board met last night [Thursday] during which John Faragher's resignation was unanimously accepted.
"We are committed to working with the England and Wales Cricket Board to eradicate discrimination from the game."
Stephenson said "an important step" had been taken but the club now had to act further, and promised transparency with the investigation.
