Michael Vaughan: BBC 'expects to work' with ex-England captain in future

The BBC "expects to work" with ex-England captain Michael Vaughan in the future and says he "remains on contract" with the organisation.

He has repeatedly denied the claim but will not be involved in the BBC's coverage of the Ashes in Australia.

"We're in regular contact with Michael," said a BBC statement.

"[We] have had positive conversations with him in recent days."

Vaughan captained England in Tests between 2003 and 2008. He played his entire domestic career at Yorkshire - between 1993 and 2009 - before becoming a summariser on BBC Test Match Special in 2009.

In a recent wide-ranging interview with the BBC on Saturday, he continued to deny the claim and stressed he never made racist comments while at Yorkshire, although he admitted regret at some tweets he had sent in 2010 and 2017.

He also said he was "sorry for all the hurt" Rafiq had gone through during the Yorkshire racism scandal.

Rafiq alleged Vaughan said "too many of you lot, we need to do something about it" to him and three other Asian players during a County Championship match for Yorkshire in 2009.

Rafiq's account was supported by former Pakistan bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and England leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who both said they heard the comment.

The fourth player in the group - bowler Ajmal Shahzad - previously told the Daily Mail he had no recollection of the event and "the senior guys were really good to me".

"Our contributors are required to talk about relevant issues, so Michael's involvement in a story of such significance means it's not possible for him to be part of our Ashes coverage or wider cricket coverage at the moment," said the BBC.

"We're pleased with how our conversations are going and expect to work with Michael again in the future. He remains on contract to the BBC."