On the second day of the open hearing for the Yorkshire racism case, former England captain Michael Vaughan will provide his defense. Vaughan is accused of speaking racially insensitive words to former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq.
Along with Michael Vaughan, the other accused former Yorkshire players in the case were Matthew Hoggard, Tim Bresnan, John Blain, Andrew Gale, and Richard Pyrah.
The first hour of the March 2 sessions was held in private. The independent Cricket Discipline Commission panel was scheduled to hear the cases of Gale and Pyrah in the morning. The cases have been streamed live inside the courtroom to authorized journalists.
Early in the day, Vaughan appeared at the International Arbitration Centre for his hearing. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has only brought charges against him for bringing the sport into disrepute. Also, he plans to show up for the CDC hearing the following week.
Rafiq opened the hearing by discussing his encounters with racial discrimination during his two employment periods with the county in 2020. In June 2022, the ECB filed accusations regarding this against seven people as well as Yorkshire.
It is to be revealed that, Michael Vaughan allegedly shouted to a group of Asian players that there were “too many of you lot, we need to do something about it”. The 48-year-old is still denying the accusation. Hoggard, Bresnan, Blain, Gale, and Pyrah did not show up for the hearing, which was “regrettable,” according to CDC chair Tim O’Gorman.
But on Wednesday, the ECB presented its case against Hoggard, Bresnan, and Blain. Before going on to Michael Vaughan, the board also presented their arguments against Pyrah and Gale.
According to ECB attorney Jane Mulcahy KC, it was “more likely than not” that all three of them used racial language because of Yorkshire’s “systematic use of racist or discriminatory language during the relevant period,” she said.
Hoggard allegedly used the slur ‘P***’ when referring to Asian players, Mulcahy stated, “raised the chance of further words or phrases of racist or discriminatory intent being used”.
Bresnan denied calling Asian ladies, including Rafiq’s sister Amna, a “fit P***” or “FP,” while Blain denied calling Pakistani athletes “P***” and “P***s.” Hoggard acknowledged using the slur but denied having any racist or discriminatory intent.
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