Michael Vaughan has returned to BT Sport’s coverage of the third Test between England and the West Indies, three months on from being dropped by the broadcaster after he was named in the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal.
Vaughan was removed from BT Sport’s coverage of the Ashes series in Australia in December in the wake of allegations that the former England captain made a racist comment towards a group of Asian players, including Rafiq, while at Yorkshire in 2009.
He was named in the report into racism at Yorkshire and was accused of saying: “There are too many of you lot, we need to do something about it,” to a group of Asian players. Vaughan denied the claim and apologised for the “hurt” Rafiq had been through after his former Yorkshire team-mate told MPs of the “inhuman” treatment he suffered at the club.
BT Sport moved to cut Vaughan from their Ashes coverage, a decision which led to the broadcaster muting Vaughan from the audio feed provided by Fox Sports for the first two Tests before flying their own commentary team to Australia for the remainder of the series.
In explaining their decision, BT Sport said it would not be “editorially appropriate” or “fit with BT Sport’s values” to include Vaughan in their coverage. The BBC also stood Vaughan down from their Ashes coverage but said at the time that they would “expect” to work with the former England captain again.
However, Vaughan, 47, was in the BT Sport studio on Thursday for the opening day of the third and final Test between England and the West Indies in Grenada and provided punditry on the day’s play.
In an interview with The Telegraph last month, Vaughan said he had taken part in a 20-hour diversity and inclusion course following a suggestion from the head of BT Sport, Steve Green, in late November.
Vaughan has yet to appear on the BBC since he was dropped from their Ashes coverage but the broadcaster said in a statement at the time: “We expect to work with Michael again in the future. He remains on contract to the BBC.”
