Stoner refers to Rashid's witness statement in which he says the alleged comment from Vaughan was he believes a "poor attempt at humour". Rashid replies: "That's correct."

Stoner puts to Rashid that he believes Vaughan is "not a racist". Rashid replies: "That's correct".

Stoner again refers to Rashid's witness statement that the words were "not said with any bad intention". Rashid replies: "No, it was bad humour".

Stoner asks what other jokes were passed between players that day and Rashid says he "cannot recall" other jokes.

Stoner asks: "Why recall this one?"

"Because it stuck in my head at the time," replies Rashid.

Stoner: "But you weren't offended by it?"

Rashid: "I was not offended."

Vaughan's lawyer Christopher Stoner is now addressing Adil Rashid.

He starts by asking about the 22 June 2009 and whether it was a day or night game.

Rashid says he cannot recall that.

He is asked where it took place and replies: "Nottingham."

Rashid is asked the result and says he cannot remember.

Stoner asks how many wickets he took. "Zero," replies Rashid.

He is asked whether he can remember what the weather was like that day and Rashid says he can't recall.

He is asked how he travelled to the game and Rashid says he "must've driven".

He is asked if he remembers what he did two days later on 24 June and says he cannot.

Stoner then asks about dressing room culture and whether there was a strong camaraderie in the group. Rashid asks what Stoner means by "camaraderie".

Stoner says "all in it together" and that there is "banter" and "support" in the group.

Rashid says he does not know what he means by all in it together.

Stokes suggests "jokes" and "banter" and Rashid says: "Yeah, among certain individuals".

Adil Rashid has played for Yorkshire since his professional debut in 2006.

He has represented England in 19 Tests, 123 ODIs and 92 T20s.

Rashid is currently confirming his witness statement with ECB lawyer Jane Mulcahy and states it is true to the best of his knowledge or belief.

The panel took a short break but have now returned.

England spinner Adil Rashid is set to give evidence via videolink from Bangladesh.

Managing director of England men's cricket Rob Key initially appears on screen before handing over to Rashid.

Stoner continues by saying the charge has pitted Vaughan and Rafiq into "an adversarial process" and suggests Rafiq's recollection of events cannot be relied upon.

He says we will soon hear from England bowler Adil Rashid, but Vaughan's team have "issues" with Rashid's evidence, given he was "silent" until the day before Rafiq gave evidence to the DCMS. The lawyers adds there is a "real issue" as to whether Rashid had been "pressured" into giving the statement he made.

The lawyer goes on to say that other players have confirmed they did not hear the words said, even if Rafiq alleges it was said loudly enough for other Yorkshire players to hear it.

He says one would have expected all those players to have been interviewed. He says only three of the eight other players were spoken to by the ECB, two of whom did not have the allegation against Vaughan put to them.

Vaughan is said to be "disturbed" as to why he has been "singled out" after it is alleged he used the term on only one occasion. He is clear racism has no place in the game of cricket or in wider society. Vaughan is clear he did not use the words alleged.

Overall, Stoner says, the ECB cannot prove on the balance of probabilities that he did.

Vaughan's lawyers continues outlining what his client's defence will be.

He states the panel has only one contemporaneous document and one broadly contemporaneous document to go off.

The first Sky footage on 22 June 2009 before the match when the words were alleged to have been spoken. Vaughan's team will say that the entirety of that footage is "inconsistent" with anything "untoward having been said".

The second is Vaughan's autobiography published a few months later in which he draws attention to the game and state he was proud of there being four Asian players in the side and that it was "the shape of things to come".

Vaughan's lawyers also states the alleged comment "was not discussed at the time" when it would be "quite obvious" that if such an offensive remark was made then it would've been, even just among friends in the team.

He says the remark was "not mentioned by anyone for a period of 11 years" and now 14 years after the alleged event it is "words versus words".

Stoner continues by stating there is "no doubt" that the burden of proof is on the ECB.

He tells the panel they cannot uphold the allegation if they feel that burden is not met or if they deem it more probable than not that the words were not spoken.

He said that where a serious allegation is made, you must consisder the "inherent improbabilities" and that "the more serious an allegation, the less likely it is to have occurred".

He added: "There is no doubt this is a serious allegation."

Vaughan's lawyer Christopher Stoner KC is giving Vaughan's witness statement, which says the charge against Vaughan is denied. Vaughan will give evidence.

It is said that when Vaughan first heard Rafiq's allegation, he simply had no idea what would lead to the allegation. Since becoming aware of Rafiq's allegation, Vaughan has consistenly denied that he said what was alleged.

Given the passage of time since the alleged incident, Vaughan's lawyer says he cannot remember precisely what was said but is clear the words alleged to have been used and the context in which they were used are unacceptable and he is very adamant he would not have used them.

Vaughan's lawyer goes on to say that there are obvious difficulties when it comes to oral recollection of what happened due to human fallibility. He is citing legal precedent over the difficulty of using this.

The ECB's lawyer Jane Mulcahy states that in his initial response to the ECB, Vaughan denied the allegation but did accept that the words alleged were "wholly unacceptable" and were racist or discriminatory.

She adds that in relation to the Squire Patton Boggs investigation, the report upheld an allegation similar to the ECB charge and drew an adverse inference from Vaughan's failure to deny he spoke those words.

The ECB notified Vaughan he was being investigated on 9 February 2022 and Vaughan provided a "substantive response" to the allegations on 25 February 2022.

Mulcahy says the ECB will contend that Vaughan committed the alleged conduct and thus "caused prejudice or disrepute to cricket".

We are currently hearing the ECB's case against Michael Vaughan.

Vaughan is accused of using racist/discriminatory language on the outfield before the T20 match between Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on 22 June 2009.

He allegedly made the remark "there's too many of you lot, we need to have a word about that", or alternatively "there's too many of you lot" towards four Asian players in the team - Azeem Rafiq, Adil Rashid, Rana Naved ul-Hasan and Ajmal Shahzad.

Vaughan denies the allegation.

Two hours after today's public proceedings were supposed to start, we are about to begin.

Panel members Tim O'Gorman (chair), Mark Milliken-Smith and Dr Seema Patel have taken their seats.

Today's public proceedings have still yet to start.

Azeem Rafiq alleges former England and Yorkshire captain Michael Vaughan said "too many of you lot, we need to do something about it" to him and three other Asian players in 2009 while they were all at Yorkshire.

England bowler Adil Rashid and former Pakistan bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan have corroborated the allegation, which Vaughan "completely and categorically denies".

Rashid is also due to give evidence remotely.

The fourth player in the group, bowler Ajmal Shahzad, has said he has no recollection of the event, external.

Vaughan was not involved in the BBC's coverage of the Ashes in Australia over the following winter, but returned to commentary in March 2022.

He stepped back from his work at the BBC in June last year after he was charged by the ECB and two groups of BBC staff raised concerns about his continued involvement in the broadcaster's cricket coverage.

Vaughan captained England in 51 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.

Image source, PA Media

Former bowling coach Pyrah was also one of the sacked 16 members of staff and also won a claim for unfair dismissal last year.

Rafiq claims Pyrah, who also had a 12-year playing career at Yorkshire until 2015, dismissed his complaints of bullying and racism by other players.

Rafiq said he told Pyrah he was being bullied by Bresnan but he was instructed to ignore it.

Pyrah withdrew from the process earlier this month, saying it has not been "open, fair or transparent".

Image source, Getty Images

In December 2021, Andrew Gale was among 16 members of staff sacked by Yorkshire in a widespread overhaul of its senior leadership under the new regime.

Gale won a claim for unfair dismissal against Yorkshire in June last year. The county said the sackings were "necessary and justified" and chairman Patel has maintained it was "absolutely the right thing to do".

Former batter Gale, who spent his entire career at Yorkshire, was suspended as part of an investigation into a tweet he sent in 2010, before he was sacked.

He and Rafiq were among five current and former players reprimanded by the ECB for historical social media posts of a racist nature in October. Rafiq had previously apologised for a Facebook exchange from 2011 containing anti-Semitic messages.

Gale said the disciplinary process was "tainted" when he withdrew in June 2022.

Image source, Getty Images

A reminder that today the ECB will lay out its cases against ex-Yorkshire coach Andrew Gale and ex-bowling coach Richard Pyrah.

Both withdrew from the disciplinary process.

The ECB will then move on to its case against Michael Vaughan. The former England captain is co-operating with the disciplinary process and is present here at the International Arbitration Centre in London today.

Today's hearing started at 09:30 this morning but deliberations among the panel are currently taking place in private.

The public aspect of today's proceedings are now expected to start around 10:30.

If some of this process feels familiar, there are some similarities between the November 2021 Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee hearing, where Azeem Rafiq told a group of MPs about his experiences of racism at Yorkshire cricket club.

At the time Rafiq spoke emotionally about the racist comments and actions that left him, in his own words, "close to taking his own life".

Here’s a recap of what we learned from that hearing, which ultimately led to this week’s proceedings.

Dan Roan
BBC sports editor

This is the latest chapter in what has become one of the most damaging and prolonged episodes in the history of English cricket, one that has forced its most successful county - and also the wider game - to confront uncomfortable questions over dressing-room culture and language, as well as its record on representation, inclusivity and diversity.

To many it may seem farcical that all but one of the defendants will not be present when proceedings get under way at the International Arbitration Centre on Fleet Street in London, but there will still be much at stake:

For cash-strapped Yorkshire, who will be braced for a possible points deduction or heavy fine, exacerbating the financial challenges the club is already facing after spending millions of pounds on compensation to former staff and legal fees;

For Vaughan, whose BBC broadcasting work has been put on hold since he was charged, and which could now depend on him clearing his name;

For Rafiq, who has admitted making mistakes in the past, and who as the key witness is expected to be cross-examined by Vaughan's legal team, but who says this will finally offer him "closure";

For current England player Adil Rashid, who is expected to give evidence from Bangladesh via video link;

And for the ECB, which has come under serious pressure to properly investigate what became a national scandal, but whose disciplinary process has also been heavily criticised by some of those involved for lacking independence and fairness.

And with the publication of a landmark report into inequality in English cricket expected to follow soon after this hearing ends, the game is now braced for another period of intense scrutiny.