Ashes-winning former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan says the racism charge against him has been dismissed.
The 48-year-old had been charged by the England and Wales Cricket Board with making a racist comment towards a group of Yorkshire teammates of Asian ethnicity – Azeem Rafiq, Adil Rashid, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Ajmal Shahzad – before a match in 2009.
The former batsman allegedly told them: “There’s too many of you lot, we need to have a word about that.”
He has always categorically denied using racist language.
In an Instagram post on Friday, Vaughan wrote: “The dismissal of the specific charge that concerned me takes nothing away from Azeem’s own live experiences.”
He criticised the proceedings, writing: “Particularly with an issue such as this, CDC proceedings were an inappropriate, inadequate and backwards step.”
He added: “The outcome of these CDC proceedings must not be allowed to detract from the core message that there can be no place for racism in the game of cricket, or in society generally.”
“There are no winners in this process and there are better way – there have to be better way – for cricket to move forward positively and effectively.”
“I have never wanted to do anything that runs contrary to genuine efforts to clean up the game of cricket. I truly hope people can understand why, on a personal level, I could not just accept, or apologise for, something which I know I did not do.”
Five others were also accused – former Test stars Matthew Hoggard and Tim Bresnan, ex-Yorkshire coaches Andrew Gale and Richard Pyrah and former Scotland international John Blain.
Vaughan was the only one who appeared to defend himself against the charge.
The others indicated prior to the hearing they would not participate, with the allegations against them heard in their absence.
The charges, brought in June last year, stemmed primarily from allegations made by Rafiq, the former Yorkshire bowler.
Yorkshire accepted in 2021 Rafiq had been the victim of racial harassment and bullying, but a month later said no individuals would face disciplinary action as a consequence.
The county has admitted four charges, including a failure to address systemic use of racist and/or discriminatory language at the club over a prolonged period.
A seventh individual, former Yorkshire and England batsman, Gary Ballance, has also admitted using racist and/or discriminatory language.
Vaughan has lost work as a television pundit because of the case and his lawyer, Christopher Stoner KC, told the panel earlier this month the shape of his client’s “life and livelihood” were at stake.
He described the ECB’s investigation in relation to his client as “wholly inadequate”,
Three players – Rafiq, current Yorkshire and England player Adil Rashid and former Pakistan international Rana Naved-ul-Hasan – have all said Vaughan made the “you lot” comment before a T20 match against Nottinghamshire after breaking from the pre-match huddle.
Vaughan has no recollection of saying the words, but accepted the phrase was racist.
The ECB’s closing submission read: “Michael Vaughan cannot refute the words because he cannot remember saying them. Instead, he asserts he would not have said those words.”
The alleged comment, the ECB said, was made only a year before Vaughan sent some tweets which he later agreed were “completely unacceptable”.
“Those tweets were ostensibly light-hearted but in reality were offensive, as he also accepted,” added the submission.
