The hearing is now breaking for lunch.

Proceedings will continue at 14:00 GMT, when we will hear the closing submissions from both sides.

The ECB will go first and begin with the case against former England captain Michael Vaughan.

Jane Mulcahy KC is summarising the ECB's case against Richard Pyrah.

She notes that Pyrah has declined to participate and therefore his evidence will not be tested by cross-examination. She states the weight given to his witness statement is therefore "significantly reduced".

She says the ECB notes Pyrah's repeated denials and the messages between him and Rafiq spanning a number of years to 2018. However, she says the ECB's position is that Pyrah should be found to have committed what he is accused of "on the balance of probabilities".

She adds it is appropriate for the panel to "draw resonable inference" from Pyrah's failure to engage with the process, adding "he has no defence to the charge".

Again she cites Yorkshire, Matthew Hoggard and Gary Ballance admitting the use of such terms as making it more likely Pyrah also did.

In terms of the phrase "you lot" she notes that Hoggard and Tim Bresnan have admitted using it - although both deny there was a racial connotation. She states it is "clear" the phrase was "widely used" in the Yorkshire dressing room at the time.

She adds "the same goes" for the racist term regarding Pakistani heritage that Pyrah is also accused of saying.

Mulcahy calls up both Azeem Rafiq and Meena Botros but again the panel have no questions for either.

That completes the five ECB cases against those who have withdrawn from the process - Andrew Gale, Richard Pyrah, Tim Bresnan, Matthew Hoggard and John Blain.

• Pyrah withdraws from ECB hearings

Pyrah has denied the allegations made against him.

He provided an undated witness statement in response to the charge in which he stated he was born in a culturally diverse area and is friends with people "from all sorts of backgrounds", and so would not use racist language. He said he had known Rafiq since 2009 and thought they were friends.

Pyrah also said the allegations against him were "general and vague", and thought he had been made a scapegoat after losing his job.

Pyrah did not accept his relationship with Rafiq had changed after he became a coach, and was aware that Rafiq had been upset by Bresnan's comments in August 2017, saying it had been escalated.

Pyrah says the extract of the text message in 2018 (quoted in previous entry) was partial. He had followed up with another message asking if he had "done anything wrong", to which Rafiq replied with emojis blowing kisses.

Regarding the language used by Ballance on the team bus, Pyrah said he always sat at the front of the bus napping or listening to music through headphones.

Azeem Rafiq's evidence also relied on the fact that Pyrah was good friends with Andrew Gale and Tim Bresnan. Rafiq says once Pyrah became a coach, he lost trust in giving him information because he thought it was being passed on.

Rafiq says he reported Bresnan's "bullying behaviour" to Pyrah on 4 August 2017 - the day after Rafiq said Bresnan had blamed him for a defeat - but Pyrah's response was that he should just ignore it.

When Rafiq's formal complaints against Yorkshire became known in 2018 Pyrah text him to say: "Hi mate. I don't want to get involved in the battle u are having with the club, just hoping you are ok pal x".

Rafiq says Pyrah heard players like Gary Ballance (who has admitted making racist comments) making such comments between 2008 and 2014, and during Rafiq's second spell at Yorkshire, particularly on the team bus. Rafiq says the coaches were often at the back of the bus with the players.

As with Tim Bresnan and Gary Ballance, Pyrah is accused of using a racist term relating to Pakistani heritage after he saw Azeem Rafiq's sister during a Yorkshire media day in April 2014.

Rafiq claims Pyrah repeatedly used the term and that he was "angry and embarrassed" he did not do or say anything to address Pyrah's behaviour at the time, but that he also did not think about it much at the time because the language was "so common".

Again, Mulcahy notes that Rafiq's sister was not aware of what had been allegedly said at the time as Rafiq did not want to tell her to protect her. She was subsequently told by Rafiq.

Rafiq also claims Pyrah used the term in relation to other Asian women, also referring to them by other Asian nationalities.

Bresnan denies using the term and states he has never met Rafiq's sister.

• Racism hearing told Bresnan used racial slur toward Rafiq sister

ECB lawyer Jane Mulcahy is now outlining the evidence against Pyrah.

In regards to the term "you lot" she notes Azeem Rafiq's allegation that former South Africa batter Jacques Rudolph was also referred to by Pyrah as "one of you lot" because he has darker skin.

She also points to Matthew Hoggard having admitted to using 'you lot' at Yorkshire - albeit he denies this had a racial connotation - as evidence that the term was used by another cricketer at the same time as Pyrah was at Yorkshire.

She also refers to Matthew Vaughan being charged with using the term "you lot" towards Rafiq and three other Asian players at Yorkshire before a match on 22 June 2009.

Vaughan categorically denies this accusation.

Rafiq says he was provided with cricketing support by Pyrah and acknowledges they had a good relationship while Pyrah was a player. This, he says, changed when Pyrah became a coach.

Pyrah's public assertion after the charge that during the ECB investigation he "was never once accused of or asked about any specific racism point" against him is false. The ECB wrote to him on 9 February 2022 outlining a number of allegations from Rafiq, and Pyrah replied in a letter dated 20 February 2022.

He had a call with James Pyemont, Head of Pro Game Investigations and Education at the ECB, on 8 April 2022, in which he again denied Rafiq's allegations which were specifically put to him in the call.

Today's proceedings now turn to ex-Yorkshire bowling coach Richard Pyrah.

Pyrah was charged with the use of racist and/or discriminatory language, specifically the term "you lot" towards and/or about Rafiq during the warm-up before a T20 Cup match between Yorkshire and Lancashire at Headingley on 17 June 2011 when referring to Rafiq, Adil Rashid and Ajmal Shahzad by saying "why are you lot always together, why don't you come and chill with us?" and/or "where are you lot going?".

It is alleged he also used this term towards and/or about Rafiq on other occasions between 2008 and 2014.

He is also allegedly to use a racist term about Asian women.

Pyrah denies the allegation. He withdrew from the disciplinary proceedings on 7 February 2023.

• Pyrah withdraws from ECB process

ECB lawyer Jane Mulcahy concludes by saying the ECB notes there is "limited evidence" in Gale's favour and that "on the balance of probabilities" the panel should find he has committed the conduct which is the subject of the charge.

She adds that Gale has "not presented any evidence in his favour" and the panel should "draw a reasonable inference" from Gale's failure to engage with the process.

She says Rafiq has "repeatedly been showing to be telling the truth" as the admissions of Yorkshire, Matthew Hoggard and Gary Ballance show.

She adds it is "inherently improbable" that Gale never heard the racist terms he is accused of using.

Mulcahy says Gale's admitted use of "inappropriate language" in the tweet he was charged over is "an indicator he is prone to speaking in a way that is wholly inappropriate".

That concludes the ECB's case against Gale.

Azeem Rafiq and Meena Botros are both called up but the panel have no further questions for either.

ECB lawyer Jane Mulcahy states that Gale's only engagement with the process was the email he sent on 21 February 2022 and his susequent public statement on 29 June 2022, in which Gale withdrew from the proceedings.

In that email Gale claimed that Rafiq had been given "numerous avenues of support" at Yorkshire.

In his statement, Gale refuted Rafiq's allegations that he had used racist language and bullied the former spinner. Gale also said he had no faith in the ECB's process being fair and just and that those charged were "scapegoats".

Mulcahy notes that the ECB's director of legal and integrity Meena Botros did note in his witness statement some evidence in Gale's favour.

He stated that England spinner Adil Rashid, who had heard the use of the term that is racially offensive in South Africa, did not attribute it to Gale.

He also noted that former West Indies bowler Tino Best, who played for Yorkshire between May and August 2010, stated he never heard Gale say anything disrespectful or make comments about ethnicity at the time.

• Gale will not engage with disciplinary process

Regarding Gale's general behaviour, Rafiq relied on his complaints to others about:

- Gale's racist attitude, including messaging a colleague in January 2018 to say he felt Gale was being racist towards him.

- On the same day, Rafiq confided to Alex Lees that he was "petrified" of Gale.

- The ECB disciplinary proceedings against Gale in 2014 after a racist remark he said to Ashwell Prince during a match. Gale admitted to using similar language in his Squire Patton Boggs interview as part of the Yorkshire investigation.

- Gale's attitude to players from ethinic minority backgrounds, calling Adil Rashid an offensive term during a match in South Africa in October 2012.

- Gale criticised Rashid on Twitter in September 2016 for not wanting to play, writing "yes he wants to rest. That's his decision. I'll take lads on the field who will give everything to win." Rashid had wanted time out as hs grandmother was ill.

Rafiq's view was that these examples illustrated Gale's attitude as expressed in a Wisden article in 2010 that he wanted a return to 11 players who were Yorkshire "born and bred". Rafiq understood this to mean Gale wanted to go back to a time when Yorkshire had only white players.

Rafiq said Gale frequently used the second racial slur towards him, and remembers a specific occasion in September 2009 when he and Gale played a second team match against Somerset.

Rafiq heard Gale use the word again in respect of a young Asian academy player in around 2013. Gale allegedly used the term towards the player after he appeared "unenthusiastic" during fitness training.

In relation to the term that is racially offensive in South Africa, ECB lawyer Jane Mulcahy KC notes that former Yorkshire and England bowler Matthew Hoggard has admitted using the term, though he denies creating the nickname for Azeem Rafiq.

Mulcahy states Hoggard used the nickname after then-Yorkshire captain Darren Gough forgot Rafiq's first name and called him 'Rafa' before a game in June 2008.

She reiterates that Ajmal Shahzad said he had heard term in sense of 'Muslim non-believer' and that Rafiq only learned the connotation of its offensiveness in South Africa recently.

ECB lawyer Jane Mulcahy KC begins by outlining Andrew Gale's response to the charge and says on 21 February 2022 he denied all the allegations via email.

She refers to Gale accepting he sent a tweet in 2010 using a term that is offensive to Jewish people, however he said he was not aware of that connotation and that it was a "lazy football-related slur".

Gale was suspended as a result and it led to a separate charge from the ECB and formal reprimand from the Cricket Discipline Commission in October 2022.

Gale provided the ECB with a copy of his interview with the Squire Patton Boggs investigation in January 2021, in which he denied having heard anyone in the dressing room using the slurs he is accused of saying and also denied knowing the term that is racially offensive in South Africa.

• Gale among five reprimanded for historical social media posts

Former Yorkshire captain and coach Andrew Gale is charged with using racist and/or discriminatory language, specifically a racist slur towards Azeem Rafiq on 27 June 2008 in the Yorkshire dressing room, and on other occasions between that date and the end of the 2010 season.

He also allegedly used a different racist slur during the lunch break of a Yorkshire second XI match in September 2009, as well as on other occasions towards and/or about Rafiq between June 2008 and the end of his first spell at Yorkshire in 2014 and/or during Rafiq's second spell at Yorkshire in 2018.

He also allegedly used this slur in 2013 referring to Mosun Hussain, a Yorkshire academy player, during fitness training at Headingley.

Gale has denied the allegations.

We start the day with the ECB giving its case against former Yorkshire head coach Andrew Gale.

Gale said he would not partake in the disciplinary proceedings in June 2022.

This is the fourth day of the hearing, which runs from 1-9 March, in which the media has been allowed to watch.

Head to the links below for the story of what happened on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday last week.

Yorkshire cricket racism hearing told Tim Bresnan used racial slur towards Azeem Rafiq sister.

Azeem Rafiq 'clearly' recalls alleged Michael Vaughan comment.

Michael Vaughan says Yorkshire cricket racism hearing is 'terrible look for game'.

We're back at the International Arbitration Centre in London where the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) hearing into allegations of racism at Yorkshire CCC is continuing today.

We're expecting to hear the England and Wales Cricket Board's case against former Yorkshire head coach Andrew Gale and ex-bowling coach Richard Pyrah, before the closing submissions from both sides are heard.

Image source, PA Media