Michael Vaughan’s lawyer has stated that the allegations of racism made towards the previous England captain by Azeem Rafiq are “word against word”.
Vaughan and fellow former Yorkshire gamers Matthew Hoggard, Tim Bresnan, John Blain, Andrew Gale and Richard Pyrah all face prices associated to the usage of racially discriminatory language.
After the England and Wales Cricket Board set out the circumstances towards Hoggard, Bresnan and Blain on Wednesday, the case towards Vaughan was the primary to be heard by the unbiased Cricket Discipline Commission panel on day two of the listening to in London.
ECB lawyer Jane Mulcahy repeated the allegation that Vaughan, on the outfield previous to a T20 match between Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on June 22, 2009, remarked about 4 Asian gamers that “there’s too many of you lot”.
The gamers have been his Yorkshire team-mates Rafiq, Adil Rashid, Rana Naved ul-Hasan and Ajmal Shahzad.
Mulcahy stated the ECB contends that Vaughan made the alleged remark and due to this fact “caused prejudice or disrepute to cricket”.
Vaughan’s lawyer then confirmed the 48-year-old denies the cost and stated the burden of proof is on the ECB.
Christopher Stoner KC stated: “Mr Vaughan can’t recall exactly what he stated however is evident the phrases used and within the context used are unacceptable.
“Mr Vaughan is adamant he did not use them.
“This panel will only have one contemporaneous document and one broadly contemporaneous document. The contemporaneous document is Sky footage where words are said to be spoken where the camera was close to players and broadcast.
“We say the entirety of that footage is inconsistent with anything untoward being said. The broadly contemporaneous document is Mr Vaughan’s autobiography and the fact it makes reference to that game and that the four Asian players who played is the start of things to come and good for Yorkshire cricket.
“The alleged comment was not said at the time and including at the end of the game where it would quite obviously have been discussed even between friends, even if it did not become formally reported.
“It was not in fact mentioned by anyone for a period of 11 years. Now 14 years after the event, it is word against word.”
Current England participant Adil Rashid was then known as as a witness through a video hyperlink from Bangladesh.
Stoner requested Rashid if he might keep in mind the results of the match in query at Trent Bridge. Rashid couldn’t.
Asked what number of wickets he took, Rashid replied “zero”.
Asked if he might keep in mind what the climate was like that day, Rashid stated he couldn’t.
Stoner requested Rashid: “You say what Mr Vaughan said on that day was a poor attempt at humour?” to which Rashid replied: “Yes, that is correct.”
“I can take you through your witness statement and say that as far as you are concerned, Mr Vaughan is not racist,” added Stoner.
“Yep, that’s correct,” stated Rashid.
“You also state the words you allege he said was not said with any bad intentions?” requested Stoner.
“No, it was just bad humour,” stated Rashid.
Asked if he might recall some other jokes advised that day, Rashid stated he couldn’t, however that Vaughan’s “stuck in my head at that time”.
“But you yourself were not offended?” requested Stoner.
“No, I was not offended,” replied Rashid.
Vaughan, who arrived on the International Arbitration Centre earlier on Thursday, is the one one of many people charged by the ECB for bringing the sport into disrepute set to attend the CDC listening to over the following week.
Rafiq, 32, first spoke out about his expertise of racial harassment and bullying throughout two spells with the county in 2020.
The ECB introduced prices towards seven people, and Yorkshire, in June final yr, with Rafiq succeeding in having the case handled in public by an unbiased panel.
Another participant, Gary Ballance, has already admitted a cost associated to the usage of racially discriminatory language. Yorkshire have additionally admitted 4 prices.
At Wednesday’s listening to involving the circumstances towards Hoggard, Bresnan and Blain, Mulcahy had stated the “systemic use of racist or discriminatory language at Yorkshire during the relevant period” made it “more likely than not” that racist language was utilized by all three.
Hoggard and Ballance’s admission that they used the time period ‘P***’ when referring to Asian gamers, Mulcahy stated, “increased the likelihood of other words or phrases of racist or discriminatory meaning being used”.Hoggard admitted utilizing the time period however denied any racist or discriminatory intent, Bresnan denied describing Asian girls – together with Rafiq’s sister Amna – as a “fit P***” or “FP”, and Blain denied calling Pakistani gamers ‘P***’ and ‘P***s’.
Rafiq attended the listening to however was not known as to talk as a result of lack of respondents current. The panel stated there was no have to query the previous bowler owing to the “bundle” of proof already collected.