Yorkshire cricket latest news: BBC drop Michael Vaughan from radio show after racism allegations

The BBC has dropped Michael Vaughan from his radio show on 5 Live amid allegations made against him in the Yorkshire racism scandal.

Vaughan revealed in his Daily Telegraph column on Friday that he had been accused by his former Yorkshire teammate Azeem Rafiq of making a racist comment towards a group of Asian players, allegedly saying: “Too many of you lot, we need to do something about it.”

The 47-year-old used the article to “completely and categorically deny” making the comment.

However another former Yorkshire player, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, has alleged that he also heard Vaughan making the comment while playing for the county.

The BBC said in a statement that Vaughan would not appear as a presenter on Monday’s Tuffers and Vaughan Show.

Michael Vaughan’s position at the BBC is under review after the former England captain was embroiled in the Yorkshire cricket racism scandal.

The former England captain used his Thursday Telegraph column to “completely and categorically deny” making a racist jibe, having been accused by his former Yorkshire teammate Azeem Rafiq of making a comment towards a group of Asian players saying: “Too many of you lot, we need to do something about it.”

Vaughan was implicated in the scandal the day after his former teammate, Gary Ballance, admitted to using the racial slur “P***” when speaking to Rafiq.

Azeem Rafiq says he won’t be commenting on developments at Yorkshire Country Cricket Club today, where chairman Roger Hutton and two other board members have stepped down in the wake of criticism over the club’s handling of racist abuse allegations brought to them by Rafiq.

Life peer Lord Kamlesh Patel of Bradford has been installed as the club’s new director and chair, and said upon his appointment today: “The club needs to learn from its past errors, regain trust and rebuild relationships with our communities.”

30-year-old Rafiq tweeted to say he has nothing to add at this stage, and is waiting to address the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee of MPs later in November.

Cricket commentator and former West indies international Michael Holding says the sport has a significant problem with “institutional racism” that goes far beyond Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

The 67-year-old told Sky News that he was “really disappointed” but “not surprised” by the botched handling of the investigation into abuse suffered by Azzem Rafiq, saying the report “certainly wasn’t timely.” “To say nobody will be punished is very disappointing”, he added.

“This is not a new thing,” he continued. “This has been going on in English cricket for a long time and Yorkshire are not the only culprits. This is not a Yorkshire problem. This is an English country cricket problem.

“If you talk to cricketers of colour throughout the years at various counties they can give you a lot of similar stories. Where they have been victimised, where they have been called names, where they have had to ‘suck up’ so many things. Yorkshire are being called out now but it’s been going on a long time, so I’m not surprised.

The BBC is understood to be reviewing ex-England captain Michael Vaughan’s role with the corporation after he admitted he was named in Yorkshire’s internal investigation into racism allegations brought by Azeem Rafiq.

The 47-year-old has worked for England on cricket and golf with the national broadcaster coverage since his retirement in 2009, and used his Telegraph column on Thursday to deny having said there were “too many of you lot, we need to do something about it,” to a group of Asian players including Azeem Rafiq ahead of a match at Trent Bridge.

Pakistani fast bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan corroborated the allegation when speaking with ESPN Cricinfo earlier today and reaffirmed his desire to give evidence at any inquiry.

Yorkshire have also appointed a new director and chair to their board as a result of today’s meeting. Lord Kamlesh Patel of Bradford has been a member of the House of Lords since 2006 and has been Senior Independent Director of the England Wales Cricket Board (ECB) since for the past five years, and will now be charged with leading the club’s transition in the wake of the damage caused by the treatment of Azeem Rafiq.

“The club needs to learn from its past errors, regain trust and rebuild relationships with our communities,” Lord Patel said.

“Yorkshire is lucky to have a vast talent pool of cricketers, and passionate supporters, from all of our communities and we must re-engage with everyone to make a better Yorkshire County Cricket Club for everyone.”

Two more members of the Yorkshire Country Cricket Club board have resigned after chairman Roger Hutton stepped down this morning.

An emergency meeting of the board has been taking place at Headingley throughout the day and Hanif Malik and Stephen Willis have tendered their resignations during discussions, following the furore over the club’s handling of racist abuse suffered by former player Azeem Rafiq.

Hutton released a scathing statement following his departure calling on more board members to follow him out the door, and criticising the club for fostering “a culture that refuses to accept change or challenge”.

Indian cricket commentator and journalist Harsha Bhogle has responded to the fallout from Yorkshire’s highly-criticised internal investigation into racism suffered by Azeem Rafiq by imploring cricket fans to play attention to the story, adding that “saying sorry can’t be that difficult.”

Yorkshire have lost a plethora of sponsors in the past 24 hours and been stripped of the right to host England fixtures at Headingley by the ECB after a furore surrounding their handling of the abuse received by Rafiq and their refusal to make the report publicly available in full.

Bhogle is an author and incredibly popular figure in India who has over eight million followers on Twitter.

The actor and comedian Adil Ray says that “actions and answers” are needed now after more disturbing allegations about racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club were made by a second, unnamed cricketer.

The player told the Daily Mail that was urinated on by a colleague while taking a phone call on a balcony, and that he offered two players saying they had used to a Muslim prayer mat to clean up blood after they had sex with a woman who was on her period.

Ray says that the new allegations and botched internal investigation into racism suffered by Azeem Rafiq require more than a review by the Digital, Culture, Music and Sport select committee.

A reminder of the huge story today that Yorkshire Country Cricket Club chairman Roger Hutton stepped down this morning and delivered a scathing statement calling on other members of the board to follow him.

Hutton admitted Yorkshire has “experienced a culture that refuses to accept change or challenge” and “apologised unreservedly” to Azeem Rafiq for the experiences he had to endure.

Hutton, who joined the board in 2020 – almost two years after Rafiq left Headingley – said there had been “a constant unwillingness from the executive members of the board and senior management at the club to apologise.”