{"id":16835,"date":"2023-03-02T20:31:02","date_gmt":"2023-03-02T20:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/02\/rafiq-denies-blackmailing-rashid-to-support-his-vaughan-racism-claims\/"},"modified":"2023-03-02T20:31:02","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T20:31:02","slug":"rafiq-denies-blackmailing-rashid-to-support-his-vaughan-racism-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/02\/rafiq-denies-blackmailing-rashid-to-support-his-vaughan-racism-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"Rafiq denies \u2018blackmailing\u2019 Rashid to support his Vaughan racism claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Azeem Rafiq has told a Cricket Discipline Commission hearing that claims he blackmailed the England player Adil Rashid to support his case against Michael Vaughan are \u201ccategorically untrue\u201d.<\/p>\n

On the second day of the hearing into racism in Yorkshire cricket<\/a>, Rafiq accepted there were some discrepancies in his evidence, including precisely what Vaughan had said to four Asian players before a T20 match against Nottinghamshire in 2009.<\/p>\n

However Rafiq insisted that while he had given two slightly different versions of the alleged phrase, in an interview with Wisden and then to the Yorkshire<\/a> investigators, the key claim \u2013 that Vaughan had used the words \u201cthere are too many of you lot\u201d \u2013 to Asian players was in both.<\/p>\n

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Rafiq\u2019s allegation forms the basis of the England and Wales Cricket<\/a> Board\u2019s case against Vaughan, who it says has brought the game into disrepute. Vaughan categorically denies the charges.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the day the CDC heard claims casting doubt on Rafiq\u2019s account by another Yorkshire player in 2009, Ajmal Shahzad. In a written statement, Shahzad said he denied hearing Vaughan use those words and suggested that Rashid was being \u201cpressurised\u201d by his former teammate to support his case.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there are a lot of things that you guys may not be aware of that are happening, and it\u2019s quite murky,\u201d Shahzad told the ECB in an interview read out at the hearing. \u201cI spoke to Rashid in December when I was at Yorkshire coaching and he was very uncomfortable with where this was going.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wanted to nip it in the bud sooner rather than later because quite frankly he was uncomfortable with how much Rafiq knew about Adil \u2026 and that at some point [Rafiq] was capable of, you know, using something that he knew about [Rashid] personally against him.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/svg><\/span>Michael Vaughan was at the Cricket Discipline Commission hearing on Thursday but is not due to give evidence until Friday.<\/span> Photograph: James Manning\/PA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However Rafiq denied that was the case. \u201cAdjmal accuses me of having blackmailed Adil,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is categorically untrue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under cross examination via video link from England\u2019s white-ball tour of Bangladesh, Rashid also denied being blackmailed by Rafiq. And he insisted that a shared business interest in a fish and chip shop with his former teammate had not pressured him into backing his friend\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t agree that Azeem \u2018knew\u2019 anything about me, including anything that might be compromising, as there is nothing,\u201d he said. \u201cI did not feel pressured by Azeem. I did feel pressured by the situation generally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rashid was also questioned about the 2009 incident and said he had a clear recollection of Vaughan\u2019s comments. \u201cAs soon as the huddle broke off, people were going towards their places, that is when I remember it being said: \u2018There\u2019s too many of you lot, you need to have a word, you need to do something about it\u2019. It is the phrase \u2018there\u2019s too many of you lot\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

The England spinner stated he was not offended by Vaughan\u2019s alleged comments but took them as \u201cbad humour\u201d.<\/p>\n

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