‘A bad day in a long list of sad days for English cricket’ - Nasser Hussain reflects upon handling of Yorkshire racism case

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has recently been catching all the headlines after charges of racism were brought against him by the English Cricket Board (ECB). However, the verdicts of the charges were concluded as ‘not proved’ at the Cricket Disciplinary Commission's hearing that was held on Friday, March 31.

The said charges were brought against Vaughan and six other former Yorkshire players by Azeem Rafiq. It was claimed by the CDC that, however, Rafiq and Adil Rashid were not lying in their allegations; they were simply mistaken when they heard Vaughan making racist remarks.

Speaking about the verdict released by the CDC, former English skipper Nasser Hussain came forward to give his take on the situation. He opined that it is a dark day for English cricket over how poorly the whole situation was handled.

"A very sad and bad day [for English cricket] in a long list of sad days on this subject. In years to come, this process will be held up as the gold standard of how not to investigate an allegation of racism. I am sure Azeem Rafiq didn't want it to become about individuals. Beyond belief how you can get through an investigation so poorly and make it about individuals," Hussain told Sky Sports News.

Now is the time to educate and move forward: Hussain

Hussain also opined about the fact that words are very integral, and especially how the whole incident would be affecting Azeem Rafiq. He also reflected on how he hopes that everybody involved can move forward from the issue.

"Words are incredibly important, and you don't learn and move on unless you move back. A lot of the stuff that has happened detracts from the wider issues that the game needs to look at. They got the process badly wrong," Hussain said.

"I can only imagine the damage this must have done to various people on both side, and Azeem in particular. What he must have been through, it has been an incredible difficult period for him," he added.