Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan says he “completely and categorically” denies claims he made racist remarks to team mates in 2009.
England cricket has been rocked in recent weeks by the report into racism at Vaughan’s former county Yorkshire, with the England and Wales Cricket Board describing the club’s response to claims by former player Azeem Rafiq as “wholly unacceptable”.
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An investigation found Rafiq was the victim of racial harassment and bullying during his career, but the club said it would not take action against any employee, player or executive.
The ECB responded by stripping Headingley of the right to stage international cricket, describing the matter as “abhorrent”.
Vaughan, who captained England to a famous Ashes win in 2005, played for Yorkshire from 1993 until his retirement from the game in 2009.
Writing in his column for the Telegraph, Vaughan has revealed he’s named in the report.
“In December 2020 I was asked to speak to the independent panel formed by Yorkshire to investigate Rafiq’s claims,” he wrote.
“Other than having well-known and longstanding associations to the club I had no idea why they wanted to speak to me but I agreed to make myself available.
“The night before I was due to give evidence, out of the blue, I was hit with the news that Rafiq was alleging that in 2009, when I was still a player and before a Yorkshire match against Nottinghamshire, I had said to Rafiq and two other Asian players as we walked onto the field together that there are ‘too many of you lot, we need to do something about it’.
“This hit me very hard. It was like being struck over the head with a brick.”
Vaughan wrote that the allegations are simply not true.
“I have been involved in cricket for 30 years and never once been accused of any remotely similar incident or disciplinary offence as a player or commentator. That the allegation came completely out of the blue and more than a decade after it was alleged to have happened made it all the more difficult to process,” he said.
“I completely and categorically deny that I ever said those words. I responded to the panel by saying I was gobsmacked and that my professional legal advice was that I could not appear before a panel having had just a few hours’ notice of the such serious claims made against me.”
The 47-year-old said he will do everything possible to clear his name.
“I have nothing to hide,” Vaughan wrote. “The ‘you lot’ comment never happened.”
“Anyone trying to recollect words said 10 years ago will be fallible but I am adamant those words were not used.
“If Rafiq believes something was said at the time to upset him then that is what he believes. It is difficult to comment on that except to say it hurts me hugely to think I potentially affected someone.
“I take it as the most serious allegation ever put in front of me and I will fight to the end to prove I am not that person.”
Vaughan’s comments come just a day after former England batter Gary Ballance admitting to using a racial slur towards Rafiq.
“It has been reported that I used a racial slur and, as I told the independent enquiry, I accept that I did so and I regret doing so,” Ballance said in a statement.
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