Rashid confirms Vaughan DID say 'you lot' to Asian team-mates

Adil Rashid confirms Azeem Rafiq’s claim that Michael Vaughan DID make ‘you lot’ comment to a group of Asian team-mates at Yorkshire, despite the former England captain strenuously denying it at racism hearing

• Former England captain Vaughan the only ex-player to contest ECB’s charges 
• He’s alleged to have said: ‘Too many of you lot, we need to have a word about it’ 
• On day one of the hearing, ECB set out their case against Bresnan and Hoggard 

Adil Rashid confirmed on the second day of the Yorkshire racism hearing at the International Arbitration Centre that he recalled Michael Vaughan saying, ‘there was too many of you lot, we need to have a word about it’ before a T20 match in 2009.

Rashid appeared via video link from Bangladesh, where England are currently playing an ODI series, and was cross-examined for over an hour by Christopher Stoner KC – the counsel for Michael Vaughan.

In his statement, Rashid stood by the fact that he heard the comment but insisted that it wasn’t racist: ‘Michael made an ill-judged comment. I heard it. I do not believe that he is racist or this was said with any bad intention, but it was said.’

The England spinner also insisted that he wasn’t pressured by Azeem Rafiq to make the statement.

‘I am not supporting Azeem because he is a friend or because of any shared business interest. I am giving evidence based on what I heard.’ 

Adil Rashid has confirmed that former England captain Michael Vaughan did make a ‘you lot’ comment to a group of Yorkshire’s Asian players

The England spinner also denied that he was pressured to come forward by former team-mate Azeem Rafiq

Stoner referred to evidence provided by Liz Neto, who was previously the HR manager at Yorkshire, where she said that Rashid telephoned her on more than one occasion, appearing distressed and indicated that he felt pressured. 

According to Neto, she recalls Rashid telling him that he had told Rafiq, ‘no matter how times you tell me I heard it Azeem, I cannot remember hearing it’.

Rashid responded by saying, ‘Nope, that’s not what I said. I don’t remember saying this.’

He also asked Stoner to keep questioning simple and on one occasion, Stoner accidentally referred to Rashid as Rafiq.

When Rashid was asked to re-confirm his recollection of what Vaughan said, he said: ‘You already know what the words are sir – “there’s too many of you lot”.

‘There’s too many of you lot, we need to do something about it.’

The long-awaited racism hearing began on Wednesday, with Rashid corroborating Rafiq’s claim on the second day

Stoner responded by saying that the alleged wording on his statement differed slightly was ‘there’s too many of you lot, we need to have a word’ and subsequently questioned his recollection.

‘Because just so you’re aware that is not what is alleged against Michael Vaughan. It is ‘there are too many of you lot, we need to have a word about it’.’

‘This is the reality – you don’t have a clear recollection of events’ said Stoner

Rashid replied: ‘I have a very clear recollection sir.’

The hearing continues. 

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