Michael Vaughan racism verdict – LIVE: Ex-England captain cleared at Yorkshire hearing

The ex-England skipper was cleared by an independent panel after being accused of using discriminatory language to Azeem Rafiq and other Yorkshire teammates

Michael Vaughan appears at the Cricket Discipline Commission

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has been cleared of using racist or discriminatory language towards a group of players, including Azeem Rafiq, after a hearing in London.

Vaughan was charged by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) with making a racist comment towards Rafiq, Adil Rashid, Ajmal Shahzad and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan before a Yorkshire game in 2009.

It was alleged that the 48-year-old, who led England in 51 Tests, said to the quartet, who are of Asian ethnicity: “There’s too many of you lot, we need to have a word about that.”

Vaughan, who had denied making the comment, announced on social media that he has now been cleared of the charge by the Cricket Discipline Committee (CDC) panel and posted a lengthy statement urging people not to overlook the problem of racism in cricket despite the outcome.

Follow all the latest updates as Michael Vaughan learns the verdict, below:

Michael Vaughan racism verdict - live updates

• Michael Vaughan announces he has been cleared of making a racist remark to Azeem Rafiq and other former Yorkshire teammates
• Full explanation of verdicts released on ECB website
• Michael Vaughan statement in full
• Response from Azeem Rafiq who wants cricket ‘to understand its problems and address them'
• The ex-England captain was accused of saying there are “too many of you lot” to teammates of Asian ethnicity

[31 March 2023 10:07 · Michael Jones]

Sanctions not revealed today

The sanctions for any charges proven against Michael Vaughan or for any charges already admitted, will be announced at a later date.

The verdict, whether Vaughan is guilty or not will be revealed later but the effects of that for the former England captain will not be known today.

[31 March 2023 10:02 · Michael Jones]

Michael Vaughan says it is ‘inconceivable’ he made racist comment to team-mates

Michael Vaughan insisted it was “inconceivable” that he would make the racist comment he has been accused of by Azeem Rafiq.

Former England captain Vaughan began his defence against an England and Wales Cricket Board charge of using racist and/or discriminatory language in London on Friday.

Vaughan said the entire process was a “terrible look” for cricket and that he had tried to meet with Rafiq to reach an amicable resolution.

[31 March 2023 09:57 · Michael Jones]

Chair and Director of Cricket Scotland resigns

Cricket Scotland has confirmed that Anjan Luthra had resigned as chair and director with immediate effect.

Azeem Rafiq had called for Luthra to step down last week after showing “a quite scary lack of respect to everyone”.

Luthra, who was only brought into the role in October 2022, recently claimed “significant progress” had been made around Cricket Scotland’s approach to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

However, Cricket Scotland has since been branded, by anti-racism campaign group Running Our Racism, as “unfit for purpose”, “tone deaf” and “arrogant”.

In his resignation letter, Luthra took shots at Sport Scotland for ‘meeting the demands of a lobby group and a handful of individuals.’

[31 March 2023 09:53 · Michael Jones]

Vaughan’s cross-examination

There were six individuals charged with making racist remarks against Asian players at Yorkshire but only Michael Vaughan showed up at the hearing to defend himself against the accusations.

He was cross-examined by the ECB’s legal team were it emerged that six team-mates backed his version of events. Another witness claimed that Azeem Rafiq had warned him, albeit years before, that he would play the “race card”.

Vaughan’s legal team also cast severe doubt on the quality of the ECB’s investigation into the Ashes-winning captain when they claimed ECB investigators had not spoken to many of the people in and around the huddle where Vaughan’s comment was alleged to have been made.

Vaughan himself again denied the central claim, and said: “The comment I have been alleged to have said is a comment where a team-mate would not be able to perform to their maximum and that’s not what I’m about.”

[31 March 2023 09:49 · Michael Jones]

What happened at the hearing?

Michael Vaughan’s lawyer, Christopher Stoner KC, described the ECB’s investigation of Azeem Rafiq’s allegations as "wholly inadequate", during his defence of the former England captain.

He backed up that claim by saying the ECB failed to contact other players involved in the match [vs Nottinghamshire were Vaughan is said to have made the racist remark], the umpires or a Sky camera operator whose footage formed part of the evidence.

Meena Botros, the ECB’s director of legal and integrity, insisted under cross-examination by Stoner that the investigation had been thorough.

Jane Mulcahy KC, acting for the ECB, asserted that it was "inherently probable" that Vaughan made the comment saying the fact Vaughan shook hands with "only the Asian players" was telling.

"This action clearly signifies that he identifies the four cricketers as a distinct group, consistent with the words ‘you lot’.”

The ECB’s closing submission read: "Michael Vaughan cannot refute the words because he cannot remember saying them. Instead, he asserts he would not have said those words."

The alleged comment, the ECB said, was made only a year before Vaughan sent some tweets which the 48-year-old later agreed were "completely unacceptable".

"Those tweets were ostensibly light-hearted but in reality were offensive, as he also accepted," added the submission. "His comment to the players on June 22, 2009, was in the same vein."

[31 March 2023 09:45 · Michael Jones]

Michael Vaughan set to learn verdict from Cricket Discipline Commission hearing

Michael Vaughan and five other individuals formerly connected to Yorkshire are set to discover later today whether charges against them linked to the use of racist or discriminatory language have been proven or not.

The decisions of the independent Cricket Discipline Commission panel are expected to be published on the England and Wales Cricket Board website at 10.30am.

Vaughan is alleged to have told a group of Yorkshire team-mates of Asian ethnicity there were “too many of you lot” before a T20 match against Nottinghamshire in 2009, a charge he categorically denies.

[31 March 2023 09:40 · Michael Jones]

Verdict to shape Vaughan’s ‘life and liveliehood'

During the hearing that took place last month, Michael Vaughan’s lawyer, Christopher Stoner KC, told the panel that the shape of his client’s "life and livelihood" were at stake in this case.

When the allegations were first made Vaughan was asked to step down from his role as a commentator for the BBC’s Test Match Special and will probably not be allowed back should he be found guilty.

The decisions of the independent Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) panel are expected to be published on the ECB website at 10.30am.

[31 March 2023 09:37 · Michael Jones]

Michael Vaughan racism verdict

Former England cricket captain, Michael Vaughan, will find out whether he is guilty of making a racist remark 14 years ago as the ‘Cricket Discipline Commission’ - three independent judges – make their ruling on if Vaughan told to a group of four Asian Yorkshire players: "There’s too many of you lot; we need to do something about it."

The burden of proof in this case is the balance of probabilities, meaning that the judges must decide, essentially, whether Vaughan is likely to have made the remark. The original allegation came from Azeem Rafiq, a former Yorkshire spinner, who was one of the players to whom Vaughan is said to have directed the comment, before a white-ball match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in 2009.

Vaughan has always denied the accusations and was the only individual charged who appeared in person at the CDC hearing held in public across four days earlier this month. Five other individuals charged – John Blain, Tim Bresnan, Andrew Gale, Matthew Hoggard and Richard Pyrah – all said before the hearing that they would not participate, with the charges against them heard in their absence.