Yorkshire cricket racism hearing: Rafiq 'clearly' remembers Vaughan's alleged comment

Former England captain Vaughan is accused of saying "there are too many of you, we need to talk about it" to Rafiq and three other Asian players from Yorkshire before a match T20.

< p class="" data-reactid=".2glf3c2kpjk.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-3">At a hearing into allegations of racism in Yorkshire on Thursday, the cross-examination of Rafiq by Vaughan's attorney focused on why the complaint appeared with different wording in other statements.

Rafiq told an independent inquiry commissioned by Yorkshire that Vaughan said: 'There are too many of you, we have to do something.'

When Vaughan's attorney, Christopher Stoner, asked KC why there's a discrepancy, Rafiq said, "I didn't at all explanatory."

He added that it was a "manifest error" in his statement and interview with law firm Squire Patton Boggs during the initial investigation and he takes full responsibility.

However, he said he wanted make it "very clear" that Vaughan said the phrase "there are too many of you" and that's the "discriminatory" part of the comment.

"Comment of the day stands out clearly and it still hurts," he said.

He added that the version of the "we need to talk about it" comment is the correct one, which he first said in an interview with Wisden in August 2020 - without initially naming Vaughan - then repeated during the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) inquiry.

Vaughan , who is due to give evidence at the hearing in London on Friday, "completely and categorically" denies the allegation. >England spinner Adil Rashid and former Yorkshire and Pakistan bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan corroborated the claim.

The fourth player in the squad, former England bowler Ajmal Shahzad said he had no recollection of this happening before a game against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on June 22, 2009.Rashid "wasn't pressured" by "close friend" Rafiq