Vaughan sorry for hurt Rafiq’s gone through
Michael Vaughan has apologised for the pain Azeem Rafiq has experienced amid his former Yorkshire team-mate’s allegations of racism.
Rafiq told MPS earlier this month of the “inhuman” treatment he suffered during his time at Yorkshire, with Vaughan among a number of figures implicated in the case.
Former England captain Vaughan denied claims he said: “Too many of you lot, we need to do something about it” to Rafiq and three other Asian players before a Yorkshire match in 2009.
He has been left off the BBC team for the upcoming Ashes tour of Australia due to a potential “conflict of interest”.
And in an interview with BBC Breakfast shown yesterday morning, Vaughan said: “I’m sorry for the hurt Rafiq’s gone through. Time, I don’t think, can ever be a healer in the situation that he’s gone through.
“But hopefully time can be a way of us making sure that Yorkshire County Cricket Club never goes through this situation again and never puts themselves in a
position of denial that they treated a player so badly.
“It hurts deeply, hurts me that a player has gone through so much and be 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.”
Rafiq’s account was backed by former Pakistan bowler Rana Naved-ul-hasan and England leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who said they heard the comment.
When asked if the trio were lying, Vaughan said: “The problem with this situation is that we’ve got too much,
‘He said, 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.”
Vaughan also apologised for a series of historic tweets, including one questioning the lack of English speakers in London and another suggesting England spinner Moeen Ali should ask Muslims he does not know if they are terrorists.
“I apologise deeply to anyone that I’ve offended with those tweets,” Vaughan said.
“Times have moved on and I regret those tweets. We all make mistakes and in my life I’ve made quite a few mistakes on Twitter. I apologise for that.”