ECB chief executive David Collier has pencilled in a meeting of the cricket disciplinary commission later this week when Yorkshire's apparent misdemeanour will be addressed.

With thousands of fans already in their seats at the Riverside in anticipation of yesterday evening's quarter-final between the counties, it was announced by the ECB that Yorkshire were under investigation for fielding an ineligible player, Azeem Rafiq, in their decisive group match against Nottinghamshire.

As a result, the match was immediately postponed and perplexed supporters were left to make their way home.

Collier claimed the incident stemmed from Yorkshire's failure to register Rafiq as a first-class player while - despite the fact the 17-year-old has captained England Under-15s and played at other age groups - there have been questions asked about his British nationality.

"The panel has wide-ranging powers and that can lead into all sorts of areas - whether that be fines, disqualification, replaying the match, it is up to the panel to determine," Collier said.

Rafiq was apparently eligible to play for Yorkshire at every level below the first team.

His contribution to the Trent Bridge game on June 27 was to bowl two wicketless overs which cost 18 runs.

He did not bat and was involved in a controversial run-out decision which was not given after the third umpire decided he had knocked the bails off with his hand, rather than with the ball.

Rafiq only played in the game because England captain Michael Vaughan was withdrawn at short notice when the centrally-contracted player was rested by his country.

There appears to be a precedent for the current situation after Gloucestershire and Worcestershire were ordered to replay a match in which the latter had fielded an ineligible player.

Yorkshire's director of professional cricket Martyn Moxon suggested the ECB had been informed of the mix-up within days of the match against Notts in which victory for Yorkshire clinched their place in the last eight of the competition.

But Collier is adamant the matter only came to light when officials at the ECB spotted the error this morning.

"I don't think we could have done any more than what we've been doing today," he said.

"It has been a mad rush. The worst would have been to just ignore it and act as though nothing had happened and let the game go ahead with the knowledge that the game may well have to be replayed.

"We were aware of the situation this morning and immediately spoke to all the correct people.

"Clearly, it's not ideal when these sort of situations occur on the day of such a major match."

He added: "Clearly there is a precedent from a Worcestershire-Gloucestershire game where a match was replayed."

Moxon, who had been busy preparing the side for this evening's match, admitted the news came as a surprise when he was informed late this afternoon.

"It was a bit of a shock. We thought we had done everything right and Azeem was registered," he said.

"Going into that game (against Nottinghamshire), we wouldn't have played it if he was not registered."

Durham coach Geoff Cook was left to lament a "very unsatisfactory situation" after seeing one of his county's most lucrative nights of the season ruined by red tape.