LONDON: Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan told a hearing into accusations of racism at Yorkshire on Friday it was “inconceivable” he would make the comment attributed to him by Azeem Rafiq as his former county team-mate was accused of being ready to play the “race card.”
Vaughan and a number of other former players at the county cricket club face charges related to the use of racially discriminatory language.
Pakistan-born Rafiq, 32, first went public with allegations of racism and bullying in September 2020, related to his two spells at Yorkshire.
Rafiq alleged Vaughan told him and three other Yorkshire players of Asian origin “there’s too many of you lot, we need to do something about it,” before a 2009 Twenty20 match between Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) lawyer Jane Mulcahy asked Vaughan at the ongoing Cricket Discipline Commission hearing in London whether the words “there’s too many of you lot” were “totally unacceptable” as well as “racist and discriminatory.”
“Absolutely,” said Vaughan, 48, who in his witness statement said: “I consider it to be inconceivable that I would use the words contained in the allegation.”
Rafiq’s conduct, however, was also called into question later Friday when Matthew Wood, a former personal development manager at the Professional Cricketers’ Association and an ex-Yorkshire cricketer, said in a witness statement: “In my dealings with Azeem, I was aware of two occasions in which he (directly or indirectly) acknowledged that he would be prepared to use the ‘race card’.
“By that, I understood Azeem to mean that he would make, or allude to, an allegation of racism in bad faith in order to gain an advantage.”
Wood’s statement also referenced a 2018 conversation with Rafiq in which he recalled: “I asked Azeem, ‘And what will you do if Yorkshire don’t offer you a new contract?’ Azeem replied with words to the effect of, ‘I’ll just hit them with the race card’.”
Mulcahy told the hearing Wood had not made reference to Rafiq “using the race card” when speaking to Yorkshire investigators or an employment tribunal involving Rafiq.
Wood replied: “At the time it wasn’t asked and I wasn’t sure where it was going. My superiors at the PCA knew about Rafiq’s comments and I later added it to my statement.”
Earlier, 2005 Ashes-winning skipper Vaughan insisted: “If you go through the history of me as a player I don’t know any time I’d have gone onto a pitch and said something to my team-mates that would have put them in a bad state of mind to play cricket.”
He added: “You’ve got three or four Asian players in the (Yorkshire) team at the same time, I couldn’t have been more proud.”
Mulcahy asked Vaughan why, if nothing untoward had happened, he had arranged a meeting with Rafiq in November 2021.
Vaughan answered: “I felt it was getting too big, hurting too many people. It’s not been easy for anybody, this.
“I don’t think this is the right process to deal with a word-versus-word process from 14 years ago. Whatever happens, this has a terrible look on the game, a real bad look on how cricket has dealt with this situation.”
The ECB brought charges against seven individuals, and Yorkshire, in June last year, with the club admitting four charges.
Vaughan is the only former player to contest the charges in person.
“Being named and implicated in this matter has had a profound effect on me,” said the former Test batsman.
“My health and personal wellbeing have suffered badly.”
Vaughan denies racism as Rafiq accused of being ready to play ‘race card’
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Vaughan denies racism as Rafiq accused of being ready to play ‘race card’
- Vaughan and a number of other former players at the county cricket club face charges related to the use of racially discriminatory language
- Pakistan-born Rafiq, 32, first went public with allegations of racism and bullying in September 2020, related to his two spells at Yorkshire
Prabhsimran powers Punjab to IPL win over Lucknow
- Punjab chased down the target of 172 set by Lucknow with nearly four overs to spare
- Lucknow started poorly, losing in-form opener Mitchell Marsh for a golden duck in the first over
LUCKNOW, India: Wicketkeeper-batsman Prabhsimran Singh scored an explosive 69 off 34 balls as Punjab Kings cruised to an eight-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday for their second win this IPL.
Punjab chased down the target of 172 set by Lucknow with nearly four overs to spare, and captain Shreyas Iyer remained unbeaten on 52 off 30 balls.
Playing their first home game of the season, Lucknow Super Giants started poorly, losing in-form opener Mitchell Marsh for a golden duck in the first over of the match to Arshdeep Singh.
Marsh’s opening partner Aiden Markram hit Arshdeep for three boundaries in his next over but fell for 28 off 18 soon after to New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson, who was playing his first match for the Kings.
Captain Rishabh Pant’s stint at the crease was short-lived getting out for just two runs from five balls, leaving Lucknow reeling at 35-3 just prior to the end of the powerplay.
Nicholas Pooran and Ayush Badoni steadied the innings with a 54-run partnership for the fourth wicket, but Pooran eventually fell to spinner Yuzvendra Chahal in the 12th over after an entertaining 44 off 30 balls.
The attacking David Miller who came in next did not last long either, falling to fellow South African Marco Jansen for 19 off 18 deliveries.
Badoni (41) and Abdul Samad (27), both of whom were dismissed by Arshdeep in the last over of the match, provided some late momentum to Lucknow, propelling them to a total of 171-7.
In response, Punjab lost opener Priyansh Arya cheaply for eight runs off nine balls to spinner Digvesh Rathi in the third over.
But Lucknow’s bowling attack only again tasted success in the 11th over when Prabhsimran fell, courtesy of a spectacular catch at the fence.
By then, Iyer and Prabhsimran’s quickfire partnership of 84 — powered largely by the latter — had taken the match away from Lucknow.
Left-handed batter Nehal Wadhera (43) then teamed up with Iyer to take Punjab over the line without any further setbacks.
Rathi (2-30) was the only Lucknow bowler to be among the wickets.
Swing king Ashwani Kumar powers Mumbai Indians to first IPL win of season
- Kumar’s 4-24 — and an overall disciplined bowling performance — restricted champions Kolkata to a modest total of 116
MUMBAI: A sparkling debut performance by medium pacer Ashwani Kumar helped IPL powerhouses Mumbai Indians register their first win of the season on Monday, downing Kolkata Knight Riders by eight wickets.
Kumar’s 4-24 — and an overall disciplined bowling performance — restricted champions Kolkata to a modest total of 116, which Mumbai chased down with more than seven overs to spare.
“We thought Ashwani can come in on this pitch and bowl the way he bowled. It is all the scouts — they picked him,” said Mumbai skipper Hardik Pandya.
“They have gone to all the places and picked these young kids. We played a practice game, he had that zip, that late swing, something off the wicket, a different action and he was a leftie.”
South African wicketkeeper-batsman Ryan Rickelton spearheaded Mumbai’s chase, scoring a busy 62 off 41 balls, an innings laced with five sixes.
Playing their first home match of the year, Mumbai dominated from the word go with New Zealand pacer Trent Boult claiming opener Sunil Narine’s stumps in the very first over of the match.
Narine’s in-form batting partner Quinton de Kock was next to go, out caught trying to loft Deepak Chahar.
Captain Ajinkya Rahane followed soon after, slicing a wide and full ball from Kumar to the deep backward point fielder after scoring 11 off seven deliveries.
Aggressive middle-order batter Venkatesh Iyer struggled to get off the blocks, falling for three from nine balls.
The left-handed Angkrish Raghuvanshi batted fluently for his 26 runs but failed to carry on, leaving the visitors reeling at 45-5 in seven overs.
Despite some resistance by impact substitute Manish Pandey (19 off 14) and the attacking Rinku Singh (17 off 14), Kolkata never recovered.
A late flurry by Ramandeep Singh (22 off 12) helped Kolkata reach the three-figure mark but it was too little too late, with the innings folding in the 17th over.
“Collective batting failure, it was a good wicket to bat on and 180-190 would have been a good total on this pitch,” said Kolkata skipper Ajinkya Rahane.
In contrast, Mumbai got off to a brisk start but India batter Rohit Sharma missed out once again, managing only 13 off 12 balls.
England all-rounder Will Jacks, who came in to replace Sharma, pulled his second ball over fine leg for a six, extinguishing any hopes of a Kolkata comeback.
Jacks (16 off 17) and Rickelton put together a partnership of 45 runs to take Mumbai closer to the target.
T20 specialist Suryakumar Yadav’s quickfire 27 off just nine balls ensured Mumbai crossed the line without further hiccups.
Rana, Hasaranga help Rajasthan Royals to first season win in IPL
- Rana reached his fifty in 21 balls and bludgeoned the bowlers with 10 fours and five sixes
GUWAHATI, India: Nitish Rana’s batting blitz combined with a four-wicket haul by Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga led Rajasthan Royals to their first victory of this IPL season against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday.
Rajasthan depended on a 36-ball 81 by Rana to post 182-9 after being invited to bat first at their second home in Guwahati.
Hasaranga then turned on the heat with his leg-spin to help restrict Chennai to 176-6 and a six-run win to bounce back from two losses in the T20 tournament.
The left-handed Rana put on 82 for the second wicket with Sanju Samson to lay the foundations.
Afghanistan left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad once again proved his worth as he broke the stand with the wicket of Samson, who is Rajasthan’s regular captain but playing only as a batsman due to an injury.
Rana reached his fifty in 21 balls and bludgeoned the bowlers with 10 fours and five sixes in his stay at the crease.
Veteran Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin cut short Rana’s knock as he had the batsman stumped to check Rajasthan’s surge.
Stand-in-skipper Riyan Parag hit 37 off 28 balls before being bowled by Sri Lankan pace bowler Matheesha Pathirana.
Pace spearhead Khaleel Ahmed dismissed Jofra Archer for a duck for his second wicket.
Noor and Pathirana both returned figures of 2-28.
In Chennai’s reply, Archer struck in the first over to have Rachin Ravindra caught behind for a duck as he celebrated his first wicket this IPL season.
Archer had a disastrous start to the tournament when he went for 76 in his four overs against Sunrisers Hyderabad for the league’s most expensive bowling figures ever.
Hasaranga struck with his first ball to send back Rahul Tripathi before skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad attempted to put the chase on track in his 63 off 44 balls.
Hasaranga claimed a wicket each in his next two overs including impact player Shivam Dube to dent the opposition chase but Gaikwad stood strong to reach his fifty.
Hasaranga dismissed Gaikwad in his last over to return figures of 4-35.
M.S. Dhoni attempted to see his team over the line in his late blitz of 16 but fell to a stunning catch in the deep by Shimron Hetmyer off Sandeep Sharma who defended 20 runs in the final over.
Ravindra Jadeja hit a valiant 32 not out as Chennai suffered their second straight loss after they started the season with a win over Mumbai Indians.
Mitchell Starc bags five as Delhi beat Hyderabad in IPL
- Starc, a left-arm quick, returned figures of 5-35 as Delhi bowled out Hyderabad for 163
VISAKHAPATNAM, India: Australia’s Mitchell Starc claimed his first five-wicket haul in T20 cricket to help Delhi Capitals down Sunrisers Hyderabad for their second straight win in the Indian Premier League on Sunday.
Starc, a left-arm quick, returned figures of 5-35 as Delhi bowled out Hyderabad for 163 in 18.4 overs in their second home at Visakhapatnam.
South African veteran Faf du Plessis then smashed 50 off 27 balls and put on 81 runs for the first wicket with Australian batter Jake Fraser-McGurk, who hit 38, as Delhi achieved their target with four overs and seven wickets to spare.
Hyderabad’s innings started badly as Abhishek Sharma was run out early for one when he was involved in a mix-up with fellow opener Travis Head.
Starc then struck twice in one over to send back Ishan Kishan and Nitish Reddy and then got fellow Australian Head caught behind for 22 as Hyderabad slipped to 37-4 in 4.1 overs.
Indian batter Aniket Verma, who top-scored with 74, and South African wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen then put on an attacking stand of 77 in an attempt to hit back.
Klaasen fell on 32 off 19 balls to Mohit Sharma, but Aniket kept up the charge in an eye-catching 41-ball knock laced with five fours and six sixes.
Fraser-McGurk ended Aniket’s blitz with a stunning catch at deep mid-wicket when he timed his jump to pluck a traveling ball out of the air and hand spinner Kuldeep Yadav a prized wicket.
Kuldeep, a left-arm wrist spinner, claimed figures of 3-22 before Starc completed his five to wrap up the Hyderabad innings.
In reply, Du Plessis came out firing as he smashed India fast bowler Mohammed Shami for a six and three fours in a 15-run third over to set up the chase.
Du Plessis fell after his 50 to Indian leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari who took a beating at the hands of Fraser-McGurk but hit back with his second wicket in the same over.
Ansari later bowled KL Rahul round his legs before Abhishek Porel, on 34, and Tristan Stubbs, on 21, steered the team home in an unbeaten stand of 51.
Delhi, under new skipper Axar Patel, have rebuilt the team in their hunt for a first IPL title and brought in England great Kevin Pietersen as mentor.
Hyderabad, winners in 2016 under David Warner, have two losses and one victory in three outings this season.
Big hitters shine as unstoppable Indian Premier League begins
- An average of 208.7 runs were scored per innings during the first 5 matches
The 18th Indian Premier League has begun with a bang. Although not as big a one as the very first match in 2008, when Brendon McCullum smashed an unbeaten 158 off 73 deliveries in a total of 222 for Kolkata Knight Riders, it has generated some powerful batting displays. In the first five matches, an average of 208.7 runs has been scored per innings in the first five matches; in 2008, it was 152.
In the last three years, the average has increased year on year from 165 in 2022 to 173 in 2023 and 175.5 in 2024. On the limited evidence available, this looks set to rise again in 2025.
Various explanatory variables have been suggested. One is the preparation of pitches which are conducive to batting. Second is the increase in so-called matchups, in which batters target individual bowlers. This is based on a level of analysis and data not available in the IPL’s early years. Amongst many outputs, current levels of analysis identify which bowlers are most vulnerable to being hit by particular batters.
Thirdly, an expansion of teams in 2022 from eight to 10 may have caused a dilution in the quality of the player pool. The tournament rules that each squad can have a maximum of 25 players, of whom no more than eight can be overseas. In a playing 11, no more than four can be overseas players. The addition of two teams created a demand for more Indian players and it is a commonly held view that the pool of bowling talent in India is not as deep as the batting pool.
A fourth variable is the introduction of an impact player in 2023. Each team is allowed to make one substitution throughout a match. In terms of team selection, a specialist batter can be played and then substituted by a bowler, who can bowl a full quota of overs, or a specialist bowler can be swapped for a batter. It is an initiative which does not sit well with purists, who believe cricket is an 11-person-per-team game based on carefully judged selection criteria that carry elements of risk. The impact player means selectors can spend less time assessing the optimum balance for an XI.
A classic case of the impact which a substitute can have occurred in match four. Lucknow Super Giants scored 209 for eight and then reduced the Delhi Capitals to 65 for five in the seventh over. Ashutosh Sharma was introduced as an impact player and, together with Viprag Nigam, compiled a 55-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Further wickets fell right down to the final over when six runs were needed with only one wicket remaining. Sharma struck a six to win the game and catapult himself into the limelight. The IPL provides opportunities for heroes to emerge, sometimes those who were not previously household names.
Sharma’s innings of 66 from 31 deliveries will have provided some justification for those in favor of impact players. The IPL management regards itself as progressive and has this year lifted a ban on the use of saliva to shine the ball that was introduced in 2020 during the pandemic. This is good news for the beleaguered bowlers, as is that they will be allowed a choice of a new ball after the 10th over of the second innings, when dew can affect their ability to grip the ball firmly.
It is not only on the pitch where the IPL is scoring heavily. Investment bankers Houlihan Lokey estimate the IPL’s 2024 brand value to be $3.4 billion, an increase of $1.6 billion since 2022. This is second only to the National Football League, which has been running in the USA since 1920.
All the indications point to the IPL’s value continuing to increase in 2025. In addition to the title partner, TATA, the IPL website lists seven other central partners, an increase on 2024. Three associate partners are My11Circle, AngelOne and RuPay. There are four official partners: Wonder Cement, CEAT, Star Sports for broadcasting and JioHotstar for digital streaming.
A major growth-driver will be broadcasting and streaming. The current IPL edition is the first to be broadcast on JioStar, which was formed following the merger of Star India and Viacom18. Its reach is achieved through 24 channels/platforms, plus JioHotstar and is underpinned by ownership of TV and digital rights for the tournament. This reach was witnessed in its coverage of the 2025 Champions Trophy, which became the second-highest rated One Day International in TV history, outside World Cup matches. It is understood JioStar has been able to achieve an increase in advertising rates for the IPL of over ten percent compared with 2024.
The integrated nature of JioStar across the three viewing platforms of linear TV, mobiles and connected TVs provides brands with an opportunity to enhance their brand equity. In 2025, there is no competition for media spend from political election campaigns, the T20 World Cup or the Olympics. As a result, advertisers are allocating significant spend around IPL 2025.
Team sponsorship revenues have also increased, thought to be in the order of 20 percent across the board compared with 2024. Mumbai Indians’ tie-up with Lauritz Knudsen is rumored to have broken all IPL records for front-of-jersey. A combination of new and legacy sponsors has served to raise values. Although front-of-jersey is the prime piece of cricketing kit real estate, franchises have each attracted multiple sponsors for other parts of their kit and playing environment.
The IPL now towers over the cricket world from both a playing and commercial standpoint. It has merged sport, entertainment and business in the creation of a highly visual brand. There have also been spin-off effects; a global franchise cricket product has emerged, whilst there have been economic benefits at both local and national levels in India. The IPL is now embedded in Indian culture, providing a vehicle of expression for its cricket-mad population. It shows no sign of slowing down — quite the opposite, in fact.
