Vaughan was questioned by the ECB’s lead counsel Jane Mulcahy KC for nearly 90 minutes, during which she argued that a couple of his historical tweets were “remarkably similar in tone” to the alleged remarks.

Vaughan accepted the tweets were unacceptable and said he had apologised for them before and would continue to do so. But he disagreed with the suggestion that they were similar in tone. Mulcahy pointed out that both Rafiq and Rashid claimed Vaughan likely said the alleged comment as a “bad joke,” and said the tweets was similar because it was “lighthearted but offensive”.

Asked if he agreed, Vaughan said: “No.”

He apologised for the tweets, saying he was “disgusted with them. I apologised for them. I put myself on an online course, Inclusion. I wanted to lead the game in knowing how to lead in modern times. The tweets are disgusting, awful, and other words you could use. But the most important thing is I have said sorry and I am learning from them. As I say, if I get things wrong in my life, I stick my hands up.”

He went back to his recollection of the day of the game – which he has written about in his memoir – that he “could not have been more proud [of] four Asian players, three of whom had come through the system.”