Highlight
The BBC commentary crew for Ashes will not include Michael Vaughan.
Azeem Rafiq’s allegations of racism have upset the English cricket community.
The allegations against Michael Vaughan have been “categorically refuted,” according to Vaughan.
An ongoing racism controversy prompted the BBC to exclude former England captain Michael Vaughan from its commentary team for the next Ashes series in Australia, which begins next month.
The BBC has decided to exclude Michael Vaughan from its commentary team for the forthcoming Ashes series in Australia because of the continuing racism controversy. Azeem Rafiq, a Pakistani-born ex-Yorkshire player, has come forward with allegations of racism in English cricket. Vaughan has been accused of telling Rafiq, now 30, and other Yorkshire players of Asian ancestry during a county match in 2009 that there were “too many of you bunch, we need to do something about it,” according to reports.
Cricket legend Michael Vaughan has “categorically refuted” the allegations against him.
As a result of Rafiq’s remarks, which have prompted a wave of racism claims in English cricket, 47-year-old Vaughan was removed from his BBC radio show earlier this month.
Michael Vaughan is embroiled in a major cricket story, but for editorial reasons, we do not consider that it would be suitable to have him in our Ashes team or wider coverage of the sport at the present,” said an aide to the broadcaster on Wednesday.
“His engagement in the Yorkshire story constitutes a conflict of interest for our contributors.”
Ex-England batsman Michael Vaughan remains a columnist for the Daily Telegraph newspaper and has a deal to commentate on Fox Sports’ coverage of this year’s Ashes series in Australia.
According to Vaughan, “I unequivocally deny saying the comments ascribed to me by Azeem Rafiq, and wish to re-state this publicly since the ‘you lot’ comment simply never happened.'”
A former teammate of mine, reportedly with the help of two other players, has leveled this utterly baseless claim against me.
‘I’ve contacted the six other players from that team, and none of them recalls the remark being uttered,’ he said. ‘No one has any recollection.’
During a parliamentary committee hearing last week, Rafiq, who later acknowledged posting an anti-Semitic tweet while still in high school, gave moving testimony about how prejudice has harmed his professional career.
Cricket chief executive Tom Harrison was highly criticized for his response to Rafiq when testifying at the same session.
“Tactical action” against racism was pledged by Harrison at the national governing body’s constituent meeting on Friday but the details would not be made public until this week.
It has been a disaster for Yorkshire, one of the oldest and most prominent counties in English cricket since this scandal broke. Sponsors have fled in droves, and Yorkshire has been barred from hosting lucrative international matches.
Andrew Gale, head coach of Yorkshire, has been suspended pending an investigation over an anti-Semitic tweet from the club’s chairman and CEO.
