Yorkshire are in limbo over the signing of South Africa batsman David Miller as a specialist Twenty20 overseas player for 2013.

A deal to see the powerful left-hander return to Headingley for the Friends Life t20 competition has been agreed but completion is being held up by red tape.

Unless a foreign player has an EU passport, they cannot be signed as an overseas or Kolpak unless they have played either one Test match or 15 one-day/Twenty20 internationals in the two years prior to the official application for paperwork.

Miller, 23, has only played 13 times for the Proteas since June 2011, and will only reach that target at June’s Champions Trophy at the earliest.

But even if he does, things could be complicated by a planned limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka in July, clashing with the English domestic t20.

After a question from the floor at Saturday’s annual meeting regarding his availability, director of professional cricket Martyn Moxon said: “David Miller’s is not a straightforward situation. He’s agreed to come back, and we want him back. But he’s two matches short.

“If he plays in the Champions Trophy, he could conceivably fulfill those two games to make him available. However, we’ve recently been told that there’s a South Africa tour to Sri Lanka in July.

“If he doesn’t play for South Africa in the Champions Trophy, he can’t play for us. If he does play in the Champions Trophy, he’s likely to be picked for Sri Lanka. Having said that, there is still a chance that the tour could be cancelled.”

Moxon also admitted that Mitchell Starc’s hectic international schedule will prevent him from coming back to Headingley this summer, and that they will try their best to do without an overseas player in the County Championship.

Yorkshire, meanwhile, have made former captain and England bowler Darren Gough an honorary life member.

The 42-year-old’s appointment was confirmed at the club’s annual meeting.

Gough played 146 first-class matches for the county, taking 453 wickets at 27.56 and won the title with them in 2001. He also took 229 Test wickets and 235 one-day international wickets.

Geoffrey Boycott was confirmed as president for 2013 and Michael Vaughan appointed to the board.