Picture Credit: Twitter
Former England captain and now commentator, Michael Vaughan, has opened up on his ouster from BBC's panel for the upcoming Ashes series that is set to be played in Australia. The English media house sacked Vaughan days before the Ashes series kicks off as the cricket veteran has been alleged of passing racist remarks to some players of Asian origin, including Azeem Rafiq, way back in 2009.
Though Vaughan has denied the accusation multiple times calling it "completely false", he has now said that he wants to be a part of the solution. While expressing his disappointment on his ouster from the Test Match Special, he said that he would miss working with his colleagues and friends.
“Very disappointed not to be commentating for TMS (BBC Test Match Special) 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," said Vaughan on Instagram. He also shared the link of the post on his Twitter account.
Here is the post:
What is the allegation against Vaughan?
The report of Azeem Rafiq's revelation stated that the Ashes-winning captain Vaughan had said a group of Asian players, including Rafiq: "Too many of you lot, we need to do something about it." This statement as per the allegations by Rafiq was made by Vaughan when he also used to play for Yorkshire in 2009.
On the other hand, while announcing the decision to sack Vaghan from its experts' panel, BBC said that it wants its contributors to "talk about relevant topics".
"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," said the media house in a statement.
"We require our contributors to talk about relevant topics and his involvement in the Yorkshire story represents a conflict of interest."