Historic tweets from Michael Vaughan took centre stage on the third day of the ECB’s racism hearings, as the former England captain denied having made the statement that forms the core of the ECB’s charge of bringing the game into disrepute.As he has done publicly before, Vaughan emphatically denied ever having said, “There’s too many of you lot, we need to have a word about that” to Azeem Rafiq, Adil Rashid, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Ajmal Shahzad at a T20 game in June 2009. The ECB’s charge stems from Rafiq’s recollection of the remark which was, on Thursday, supported by the testimony of Rashid.Vaughan, appearing at the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) hearing in London, said of the day in question that he had “a very clear mind about back in 2009” and that he knew he did not say what had been alleged. He added that he would never have gone on to the field and said something to team-mates that could “put them in a bad state of mind” before the game.Related
-
Moeen: Vaughan must 'step up' in cricket's fight against racism
-
Yorkshire plead guilty to data deletion in wake of racism allegations
-
ECB lays out case against Yorkshire defendants as CDC hearing begins
-
Adil Rashid denies feeling pressure to confirm Michael Vaughan's 'you lot' comment
“Knowing me in 2009, that’s not the sort of thing I would’ve said.”Vaughan was questioned by the ECB’s lead counsel Jane Mulcahy KC for nearly 90 minutes, during which she argued that some historical tweets of his were “remarkably similar in tone” to the alleged remarks.The tweets she referenced were from 2010 and 2017. In one he tweeted, “Not many English people live in London…I need to learn a new language”. The other was his response to a Piers Morgan tweet calling for Muslims “to expose, name and shame radicalised members of their communities…” , to which Vaughan tweeted: “Totally agree.”Vaughan said the tweets were unacceptable and that he had apologised for them before and would continue to do so. But he disagreed with the suggestion that they were similar in tone. Mulcahy pointed out that both Rafiq and Rashid claimed Vaughan likely made the alleged comment as a “bad joke” and said the tweet was similar in tone because it was “lighthearted but offensive”.Asked if he agreed, Vaughan said: “No.”Vaughan said he was “disgusted” with the tweets. “I apologised for them. I put myself on an online course, Inclusion. I wanted to lead the game in knowing how to lead in modern times. The tweets are disgusting, awful, and other words you could use. But the most important thing is I have said sorry and I am learning from them. As I say, if I get things wrong in my life, I stick my hands up.”He went back to his recollection of the day of the game – which he has written about in his memoir – that he “could not have been more proud [of] four Asian players, three of whom had come through the system.”Vaughan was also questioned about his meeting with Rafiq in November 2021 saying he felt the need for it because “the whole situation was escalating out of control”. Vaughan said he was apologetic in the meeting with Rafiq because he was “disgusted” by what Rafiq had to go through at Yorkshire but did not accept he made the alleged comment.
