Michael Vaughan is TORN over BBC return after being found not guilty of using racist language

Michael Vaughan is unsure whether to return to the Test Match Special booth for this summer’s Ashes after he was on Friday found not guilty of using racist language towards Azeem Rafiq.

The BBC want him back but the 2005 Ashes-winning captain, 48, is out of contract at the corporation having been stood down when his charge was revealed last June. 

He had always denied saying ‘there’s too many of you lot, we need to do something about it’ to Rafiq and three other Yorkshire players with Asian heritage before a 2009 match.

He was cleared yesterday, and in a statement released shortly before the verdict was published, Vaughan lambasted the ECB’s disciplinary process as ‘inappropriate, inadequate and backwards’. 

He added: ‘There are no winners in this process and there are better ways for cricket to move forwards.’

Michael Vaughan was found not guilty of using racist language towards Azeem Rafiq on Friday

Vaughan denied saying ‘there’s too many of you lot, we need to do something about it’ to Rafiq and three other Yorkshire players with Asian heritage in 2009

Vaughan has not yet decided whether to return to the BBC for the biggest series of all, which begins against Australia on June 16 at Edgbaston.

Five other former Yorkshire players were found guilty yesterday of using racist language, including ex-England bowler Tim Bresnan, who plans to appeal against the verdict.