Equity in Cricket report: 'Absolutely horrific' stories show 'culture is rotten'

1 year ago 26

WARNING: This nonfiction contains descriptions of racism and different violative and discriminatory connection and behaviour.

An obscene gag astir a Muslim cricketer's supplication mat and "predatory behaviour" towards women were immoderate of the "absolutely horrific" stories heard by a damning study into favoritism successful cricket.

The long-awaited Independent Commission for Equity successful Cricket (ICEC) study was published connected Tuesday and said racism, sexism, classism and elitism is "widespread" successful the English and Welsh game.

Chair Cindy Butts said stories told to the committee showed the sport's civilization is "rotten".

"We heard of women being perpetually stereotyped, demeaned, facing predatory behaviour," Butts told BBC sports exertion Dan Roan.

"We heard from women who are having to locomotion into people boxes and look signs that accidental 'no bras allowed'. This is 2023, not 1923."

Butts described "routine" usage of radical slurs, including 1 13-year-old connected a endowment pathway being racially abused and told to "go backmost home".

"We heard from a erstwhile Muslim subordinate who had to endure the indignity of his team-mates laughing and joking astir 1 of the players utilizing the supplication mat to cleanable up aft sex," Butts added.

"The stories were perfectly horrific and it goes to amusement that the civilization successful cricket is rotten."

'Women subjected to sexting and harassment'

The study looked into recreational and nonrecreational cricket and the grounds gathered came from much than 4,000 respondents.

Among those to springiness grounds were England men's Test skipper Ben Stokes, women's skipper Heather Knight, erstwhile men's skipper Joe Root and World Cup-winning skipper Eoin Morgan.

"We heard that determination are problems passim cricket, including the England dressing room, astatine the recreational level, astatine the committee level, including for young pupils arsenic well, and radical connected the connected the endowment pathway passim cricket," Butts said.

As good arsenic racism, the study was peculiarly damning erstwhile highlighting sexism - saying that women are treated arsenic "subordinate" to men astatine each levels of the sport.

"What we what we've seen is that women are susceptible erstwhile astir a drinking culture, they are subjected to intersexual harassment, tons of sexting," Butts said.

"We've heard from a fig of women who speech astir being susceptible and being exposed and having unwanted advances made connected them by men."

Improving is our 'single biggest priority' - ECB chair

The study made 44 recommendations, including that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) makes an unreserved nationalist apology for its failings.

Speaking to BBC Sport, ECB seat Richard Thompson offered a "heartfelt apology" to those who person been "discriminated against and excluded".

He said making improvements connected the backmost of the findings is the game's "single biggest priority" and reiterated his desire, stated past September, to marque cricket the country's "most inclusive sport".

"I deliberation this study volition accelerate that process now," said Thompson, who was appointed past year.

"At the clip I said it volition astir apt instrumentality america 5 years to execute that. And I deliberation I deliberation present we've astir apt got a bigger elevation to ascent based connected what we've work successful this study successful presumption of achieving that level.

"But cricket does scope communities that nary different athletics does."

The study acknowledged that "the problems we place are not, sadly, unsocial to cricket. In galore instances they are indicative of arsenic profoundly rooted societal problems".

What other did the study say?

The study recovered racism successful cricket is "not confined to pockets oregon a fewer atrocious apples" but is "widespread and a superior problem".

It said determination is "a civilization successful which overt favoritism often goes without superior challenge", which includes "racist, misogynistic, homophobic and ableist comments and actions, and a 'laddish' drinking civilization that tin sometimes marque women susceptible and astatine hazard of unwanted oregon unwelcome behaviour, arsenic good arsenic alienating others owed to spiritual and/or taste beliefs".

Fifty percent of respondents had experienced favoritism successful the past 5 years.

It recommended the historical Eton versus Harrow and Oxford against Cambridge fixtures should not beryllium played astatine Lord's from 2023 onwards, successful bid to halt the connection of elitism, and questioned wherefore the England women's squad has not played a Test astatine the venue.

"It's perfectly shocking that women haven't had the accidental to play a Test lucifer astatine the alleged location of cricket," Butts said.

"I deliberation that's awful.

"And erstwhile you cognize that Eton and Harrow person an automatic close to play astatine Lord's, I deliberation that is perfectly disgraceful. I deliberation it speaks to the elitism successful cricket."

Criticism of the fixtures was portion of what the study called a prevalence of "elitism and class-based discrimination".

A deficiency of cricket successful authorities schools and a endowment pathway structurally aligned to backstage schools is partially to blasted for "elitism and class-based discrimination", it said.

Butts said: "We person concluded that it is it and it's not conscionable institutionally racist, we accidental that it's institutionally and structurally sexist and has class-based discrimination.

"We person thought agelong and hard astir utilizing that term, but we judge it's a word that applies erstwhile you look astatine the grounds that exists."

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