Azeem Rafiq accused Michael Vaughan of making a racist comment to him and other players during their time together at Yorkshire; Vaughan denies any accusations of racism; Vaughan "disappointed" with BBC's decision and says cricket's problems are "bigger than any individual case"
Thursday 25 November 2021 12:48, UK
Michael Vaughan has said he is "very disappointed" after being left out of the BBC team for the upcoming Ashes tour of Australia.
The BBC said it had taken the decision to avoid a potential "conflict of interest" in relation to ongoing allegations of racism.
The former England captain was stood down from his BBC radio show earlier this month after being implicated in allegations of racism made by his former team-mate Azeem Rafiq, which Vaughan denies.
A BBC spokesperson said: "While he is involved in a significant story in cricket, for editorial reasons we do not believe that it would be appropriate for Michael Vaughan to have a role in our Ashes team or wider coverage of the sport at the moment.
"We require our contributors to talk about relevant topics and his involvement in the Yorkshire story represents a conflict of interest."
Vaughan addressed the decision on Instagram, saying the sport's problems are "bigger than any individual case".
"Very disappointed not to be commentating for TMS (Test Match Special) on the Ashes and will miss working with great colleagues and friends, but looking forward to being behind the mic for @foxcricket in Australia," he wrote.
"The issues facing cricket are bigger than any individual case and I want to be part of the solution, listening, educating myself and helping to make it a more welcoming sport for all."
Rafiq alleged Vaughan said "too many of you lot, we need to do something about it" to him and a group of other players during a Yorkshire match in 2009.
In a statement issued earlier in November, Vaughan said: "I categorically deny saying the words attributed to me by Azeem Rafiq and want to re-state this publicly because the 'you lot' comment simply never happened.
"It is extremely upsetting that this completely false accusation has been made against me by a former team-mate, apparently supported by two other players.
"I have been in contact with the six other players from that team and not one of them has any recollection of the remark being made."
BT Sport is reviewing plans to use Fox Sports commentary for its Ashes coverage.
The broadcaster is not sending a bespoke commentary team and instead had planned to take the audio feed from Fox Sports, who are one of the Australian rights holders.
In light of recent developments, that position is to be looked at again - and could result in BT Sport opting to use a different audio set-up, such as that from Channel 7, which includes Sir Ian Botham and Ricky Ponting.
A BT Sport spokesperson said in a statement: "As a result of Covid and travel restrictions BT Sport had made the decision to take our commentary feed from the Australian host broadcaster.
"The recent report presented to UK Parliament uncovering institutional racism within cricket and specifically Yorkshire County Cricket Club is extremely disappointing and a concern for all.
"Given these recent events we are reviewing and discussing our commentary plans with Cricket Australia."
The five-match Ashes Test series between holders Australia and England starts in Brisbane on December 8.
