LONDON
\nMichael Vaughan\u2019s \u201clife and livelihood\u201d are at stake in the Yorkshire racism hearing, the former England captain\u2019s lawyer claimed on Tuesday.
\nVaughan is accused by the England and Wales Cricket Board of making a racist comment to Azeem Rafiq and three other Yorkshire players in 2009.
\nFormer Yorkshire batsman Vaughan has lost roles as a television pundit since the charges were made and revealed at the hearing that his health and wellbeing had also suffered.
\nChristopher Stoner, Vaughan\u2019s lawyer, told the Cricket Discipline Commission in London: \u201cThis is obviously a matter of significant importance to my client. The shape of his life and livelihood are at stake.
\n\u201cWe simply say the evidence does not make up the charge.\u201d
\nVaughan is alleged to have told Rafiq, Adil Rashid, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Ajmal Shahzad: \u201cThere\u2019s too many of you lot, we need to have a word about that.\u201d
\nStoner accused the ECB of backtracking due to a discrepancy concerning the second half of the comment, as Rafiq also recalled it was: \u201cWe need to do something about it.\u201d
\nECB lawyer Jane Mulcahy admitted: \u201cIt\u2019s a bit messy, I see that.\u201d But she was reiterated that the key words \u201cyou lot\u201d is what the disciplinary panel should focus on.
\nVaughan, who attended the hearing on Friday, maintains he has no recollection of making the comment.
\nHis lawyer cited what he called \u201cthe frailties of human recollection\u201d of an incident that took place almost 14 years ago.
\n\u201cMr Rafiq says he has a clear recollection, but not of the exact words,\u201d Stoner said.
\n\u201cHe said it made him feel sick and angry but he didn\u2019t speak about it for 11 years.
\n\u201cWe say it\u2019s inherently improbable he would not have spoken about it to someone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON Michael Vaughan\u2019s \u201clife and livelihood\u201d are at stake in the Yorkshire racism hearing, the former England captain\u2019s lawyer claimed on Tuesday. Vaughan is accused by the England and Wales Cricket Board of making a racist comment to Azeem Rafiq and three other Yorkshire players in 2009. Former Yorkshire batsman Vaughan has lost roles as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-318624","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n