Michael Vaughan to return to BBC after being dropped by broadcaster in wake of racism scandal
The former England captain has been working for BT Sport as a pundit for the West Indies tour
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Your support makes all the difference.Michael Vaughan is to return to the BBC’s cricket coverage on Monday night after being sat out in the wake of the sport’s racism scandal.
The former England skipper was named in Yorkshire’s report into Azeem Rafiq’s claims of racism during his time at the club.
The 47-year-old denied the allegation that he made a racist comment to a group of Asian players but was subsequently not involved in the BBC’s Ashes coverage in Australia, while also being removed from BT Sport’s coverage.
Vaughan has been broadcasting on BT Sport during England’s latest disastrous series against the West Indies, with Joe Root’s side falling to a 1-0 series defeat.
But Vaughan will make his first appearance back on Monday evening on BBC Radio 5 Live as part of the 5 Live Cricket Programme from 9-10pm.
Vaughan will be joined by James Anderson, Phil Tufnell and Carlos Brathwaite.
He was named in the report into racism at Yorkshire and was accused of saying “There are too many of you lot, we need to do something about it,” to a group of Asian players.
Vaughan denied the claim and apologised for the “hurt” Rafiq had been through after his former Yorkshire teammate told MPs of the “inhuman” treatment he suffered at the club.
BT Sport moved to cut Vaughan from their Ashes coverage, a decision which led to the broadcaster muting Vaughan from the audio feed provided by Fox Sports for the first two Tests before flying their own commentary team to Australia for the remainder of the series.
In explaining their decision, BT Sport said it would not be “editorially appropriate” or “fit with BT Sport’s values” to include Vaughan in their coverage. The BBC also stood Vaughan down from their Ashes coverage but said at the time that they would “expect” to work with the former England captain again.
However, Vaughan, 47, was in the BT Sport studio on Thursday for the opening day of the third and final Test between England and the West Indies in Grenada and provided punditry on the day’s play.
In an interview with The Telegraph last month, Vaughan said he had taken part in a 20-hour diversity and inclusion course following a suggestion from the head of BT Sport, Steve Green, in late November.
Vaughan has yet to appear on the BBC since he was dropped from their Ashes coverage but the broadcaster said in a statement at the time: “We expect to work with Michael again in the future. He remains on contract to the BBC.”
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