Former England captain Michael Vaughan has stated that he is ‘very disappointed’ after being dropped from the BBC commentary team for the upcoming Ashes series after the racism controversy erupted recently. He also shared that he wants to be part of the solution to the issues facing the game and he is also ready to educate himself too.
His comments came after Pakistan-born former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq recently brought allegations of racism against a number of big names in England cricket. He claimed that, during a county match in 2009, Vaughan had said Rafiq and other Yorkshire players of Asian origin that there were “too many of you lot, we need to do something about it.” However, the veteran has denied the allegation.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, BBC has confirmed that Vaughan would not be part of the Ashes commentary team since “he is involved in a significant story in cricket.”
Reacting to that, Michael Vaughan took to Instagram and said that although he would miss commentating for BBC, he is looking forward to working for Fox Cricket in Australia. He also shared a picture with Shane Warne, Allan Border, Mark Waugh, and Adam Gilchrist.
Vaughan wrote: “Very disappointed not to be commentating for TMS on the Ashes and will miss working with great colleagues & friends, but looking forward to being behind the mic for @foxcricket in Australia. The issues facing cricket are bigger than any individual case and I want to be part of the solution, listening, educating myself and helping to make it a more welcoming sport for all”.
BBC drops Michael Vaughan after reports of racist remarks
Earlier, BBC released a statement to confirm that Vaughan would not be part of the team’s Ashes commentary panel as he was “involvement in the Yorkshire story represents a conflict of interest”. The statement read:
“While he is involved in a significant story in cricket, for editorial reasons we do not believe that it would be appropriate for Michael Vaughan to have a role in our Ashes team or wider coverage of the sport at the moment. We require our contributors to talk about relevant topics and his involvement in the Yorkshire story represents a conflict of interest.”
Former England captain Michael Vaughan will not be involved in the BBC's coverage of the Ashes in Australia.
He will also not be involved in the BBC's "wider coverage of the sport at the moment".
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) November 24, 2021
The much-awaited Ashes series will begin on December 8 at the Gabba.
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