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‘I’m sorry for the hurt he’s gone through’, Vaughan on Rafiq


Published : 27 Nov 2021 07:29 PM | Updated : 27 Nov 2021 07:33 PM

Michael Vaughan has expressed regret for Azeem Rafiq's suffering as a result of his former Yorkshire teammate's charges of racism at the club.

Rafiq told MPs earlier this month about the "inhuman" treatment he received at Yorkshire, and Vaughan was one of several people named in the case. In an interview with BBC Breakfast shown on Saturday morning, Vaughan denied making racist comments.

“I’m sorry for the hurt he [Rafiq] has gone through,” the former England captain said. “It hurts deeply, hurts me that a player has gone through so much [and] been treated so badly at the club that I love.”

“I have to take some responsibility for that because I played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club for 18 years and if in any way, shape or form I’m responsible for any of his hurt, I apologise for that,” Vaughan told BBC presenter Dan Walker.

“Time I don’t think can ever be a healer in the situation that he’s gone through,” Vaughan added. “But hopefully time can be a way of us making sure that Yorkshire never goes through this situation again and never puts themselves in a position of denial that they treated a player so badly.”

Before a Yorkshire match in 2009, Vaughan denied saying to Rafiq and three other Asian players, "too much of you bunch, we need to do something about it." Former Pakistani bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and England leg-spinner Adil Rashid both confirmed that they heard the remark.

When Walker asked Vaughan if the trio were lying, he replied: “We’ve got too much ‘he said, she said, did they say’ – and I think we’ve got to move on from accusations of conversations from many years ago. There’s a bigger picture here.”