Yorkshire and Surrey are awaiting the response of the ECB after a Surrey player reported that he had been racially abused by a spectator on the first day of the County Championship match against Yorkshire in Scarborough.
Ryan Patel, the 20-year-old Surrey all-rounder, is understood to be the player named when the incident was reported to the umpires, Peter Hartley and Paul Pollard, who informed the cricket liaison officer, Wayne Noon. Yorkshire have advised they will make no comment on the alleged incident until they hear officially from the ECB about the matter.
Surrey's director of dricket Alec Stewart said: "We're fully aware of this unsavoury incident and have every confidence that the ECB and Yorkshire will deal with it in the appropriate manner."
It is not thought that the spectator involved was approached by stewards or by members of the Scarborough or Yorkshire club.
Bill Mustoe, a Yorkshire vice-president and former Scarborough chairman, said that the club had responded once the complaint had passed through the system and the umpires had informed both counties.
"Plain clothes spotters were put in the area to monitor the situation," he said. "Nothing more was established and we'll see what happens as a result. It was just disappointing. We're not sure of exactly what was said, so we'll just have to wait."
Yorkshire will also privately point out that the overall mood of the crowd was not hostile - quite the opposite. On the first day at North Marine Road spectators in the packed stand at the Peasholm Park End gave the Surrey offspinner Amar Virdi a huge round of applause at the end of the over in which he dismissed both Cheteshwar Pujara and Harry Brook.
Scarborough attracts one of the biggest and most vociferous Championship crowds in the country and the intimate nature of the ground, which has often been described as a natural amphitheatre, means that any cries or barracking from the crowd can often be clearly heard.
Patel, born in Sutton, is a Surrey Academy graduate who has been in the system since the age of eight. He shot to prominence with an extraordinary spell of six wickets for five runs in 23 balls against Somerset in Guildford last week.