Daily Times

LONDON: Former England captain Michael Vaughan will be part of the BBC’s cricket coverage for the Ashes series and England’s one-off Test match against Ireland in June, the broadcaster said on Friday. Vaughan, 48, stepped down from commentary duties last June after his former Yorkshire team mate Azeem Rafiq alleged he had used racist language during their time at the cricket club. Vaughan strongly denied the allegation and was cleared by the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) in March. Rafiq, a player of Pakistani descent, alleged Vaughan told him and other players of Asian origin there were “too many of you lot, we need to do something about it” before a match in 2009.

The CDC said its panel “was not satisfied on the balance of probabilities” that Vaughan said the words “at the time and in the specific circumstances alleged”. Vaughan, who led England to success in the 2005 Ashes series, was one of seven individuals charged by the England & Wales Cricket Board with using racist or discriminatory language. He had previously been dropped from the BBC’s coverage of the 2021-22 Ashes in Australia. England face Ireland at Lord’s on June 1 before the five-Test Ashes series against Australia begins at Edgbaston on June 16.