After being exonerated of uttering a racist remark earlier this year, former England captain Michael Vaughan will resume his role as a commentator for the BBC’s cricket coverage.
Before a match that Vaughan was scheduled to play for Yorkshire in 2009, he was accused of using language that was racist or discriminatory toward a group of players of Asian ancestry.
However, a panel of the Cricket Discipline Commission that met in March reached the conclusion that the accusation was not proven.
Vaughan will be a guest on the BBC’s ‘Today at the Test’ highlights show, the broadcaster revealed on Friday. The appearance will first take place for the match between England and Ireland that will take place at Lord’s starting on June 1.
During the course of the season, during which England will play Australia in five Ashes Tests, Vaughan will also serve as a summary commentator on the radio program Test Match Special.
Vaughan, the captain of England’s team that won the Ashes in 2005, was exonerated of a charge that he called a group of four Asian players for Yorkshire, including Azeem Rafiq, “you lot” before a Twenty20 match against Nottinghamshire. The match was played between Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.
The conclusions of the CDC panel, which were announced on March 31, brought to light “significant inconsistencies” in the testimony provided by two key witnesses, Rafiq and Adil Rashid, regarding the precise phrasing of Vaughan’s purported statement.
In April, Vaughan shared her story with the Telegraph, saying, “I just burst out crying.”
“When your lawyer tells you that you’re free, you feel nothing but complete and utter relief. There are some in cricket who wanted nothing more than to see the back of me.