Equity in Cricket report: Discrimination 'widespread' in English cricket

The Independent Commission for Equity successful Cricket received much than 4,000 responses to its telephone for evidence

Racism, sexism, classism and elitism is "widespread" successful English and Welsh cricket, according to a long-awaited autarkic report.

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

ECB seat Richard Thompson said: "We volition usage this infinitesimal to reset cricket."

The ICEC was announced by the ECB successful March 2021 successful the aftermath of planetary movements specified arsenic Black Lives Matter and Me Too.

• 'Horrific' cricket study 'shows rotten culture'

It opened an online telephone for grounds successful November of that year, receiving 4,156 responses. In March 2022, a telephone for written grounds resulted successful much than 150 responses.

Among those to springiness grounds see England men's Test skipper Ben Stokes, women's skipper Heather Knight, erstwhile men's skipper Joe Root, World Cup-winning skipper Eoin Morgan and Azeem Rafiq, the erstwhile Yorkshire subordinate and racism whistleblower.

In a damning 317-page study 'Holding Up A Mirror To Cricket', the ICEC concluded that:

• "Structural and organization racism" continues to beryllium wrong the game
• Women are treated arsenic "subordinate" to men astatine each levels of the sport
• There is simply a prevalence of "elitism and class-based discrimination" successful cricket
• Black cricket has been failed and the ECB indispensable make a program to revive it
• Many who acquisition favoritism bash not study it due to the fact that of a distrust successful the authorities
• Umpires regularly disregard maltreatment and disregard complaints successful some the nonrecreational and recreational game

"There remains a stark world that cricket is not a 'game for everyone' and it is perfectly indispensable that the enactment required to execute that ambition indispensable statesman immediately," wrote ICEC seat Cindy Butts.

"Be successful nary doubt, what is needed present is leadership. I precise overmuch anticipation that the recommendations we marque successful this study volition beryllium adopted and driven guardant by the ECB and each others successful enactment positions."

The study did praise the ECB for being "brave" capable to unfastened itself to autarkic scrutiny.

Thompson, who became ECB char past September, offered an "unreserved" apology.

"Cricket should beryllium a crippled for everyone, and we cognize that this has not ever been the case," helium said. "Powerful conclusions wrong the study besides item that for excessively agelong women and achromatic radical were neglected. We are genuinely atrocious for this.

"This study makes wide that historical structures and systems person failed to forestall discrimination, and highlights the symptom and exclusion this has caused.

"I americium determined that this wake-up telephone for cricket successful England and Wales should not beryllium wasted. We volition usage this infinitesimal to show that it is simply a crippled for each and we person a work to enactment this close for existent and aboriginal generations."

The recommendations besides see the equalisation of lucifer fees betwixt the England women's and men's teams with contiguous effect, that the ECB reports connected the authorities of equity successful cricket each 3 years and the removal of yearly fixtures betwixt Eton and Harrow schools and Oxford and Cambridge universities from Lord's.

'Culture successful cricket is rotten'

In airy of allegations made by erstwhile Yorkshire spinner Rafiq, the ECB published a plan to tackle racism and each forms of favoritism successful November 2021.

The ICEC said the important effect it received to its telephone for grounds was propelled by Rafiq's quality astatine Digital, Culture, Media and Sport prime committee proceeding successful the aforesaid month, erstwhile helium labelled English cricket "institutionally racist".

Of the respondents, 50% described experiencing favoritism during the people of the erstwhile 5 years. The figures were higher for radical from ethnically divers communities: 87% of radical with Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage, 82% of radical with Indian practice and 75% of each achromatic respondents.

"The persistence of interpersonal and structural racism successful cricket is due, we believe, successful portion to a nonaccomplishment by the ECB to specifically and unambiguously sanction racism arsenic a concern, astatine slightest until the caller situation (and lone past mostly successful notation to interpersonal and overt forms of racism)," said the report.

"Racism remains a wide and superior occupation successful cricket crossed England and Wales and thing that the ECB and the wider crippled should code with urgency."

In its grounds to the report, the ECB admitted to a "lost generation" of achromatic cricketers.

"Black adults are not playing cricket successful capable numbers to adjacent beryllium picked up by surveys that measurement information successful cricket," said the ICEC report.

"A 2020 study by Sport England recovered that achromatic information was truthful debased arsenic to beryllium statistically irrelevant, seemingly little than successful play and tennis."

The ICEC has recommended that the ECB undertakes an "in-depth examination" of the diminution successful cricket among achromatic communities wrong the adjacent 12 months.

'Culture of sexism and misogyny'

Though the study recognised "positive strides" made successful the women's game, it besides highlighted a deficiency of pistillate practice among decision-makers, little media vulnerability and less opportunities to play astatine premier grounds for elite women, and inequity successful presumption of kit and instrumentality disposable to women and girls.

The ICEC heard "evidence of a wide civilization of sexism and misogyny" and examples of men making unwanted and uninvited advances towards women.

The study was alarmed that England's women person ne'er played astatine Test astatine Lord's, portion the 'home of cricket' continues to big an yearly schools fixture betwixt Eton and Harrow.

In presumption of wage and investment, the women's crippled receives an "embarrassingly tiny amount" erstwhile compared to the men's game.

According to the report, an England women's white-ball subordinate receives a wage that is 20.6% that of her antheral equivalent and the allowance fixed to the women's skipper is 31% that of the men's.

Domestically, the mean wage of a pistillate successful the determination operation is 45% that of a antheral astatine a first-class county, portion successful The Hundred the highest wage tier for women is £1,250 much than the lowest tier for men.

Even erstwhile players are excluded, determination is an 18.8% spread successful the mean wage betwixt pistillate and antheral employees astatine the ECB.

The ICEC has recommended a "fundamental overhaul of the nonrecreational women players' wage structure".

This includes contiguous parity betwixt men's and women's planetary lucifer fees, wide adjacent wage astatine planetary level by 2030 and adjacent wage successful The Hundred successful 2025.

'Elitist and exclusionary'

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", according to the report.

Some 58% of men to play for England successful 2021 were privately educated, importantly higher than the 7% of the wide colonisation that went to backstage school.

To item the overrepresentation of privately-educated radical successful the game, 42% of respondents to the ICEC's ain survey went to a backstage school.

The study besides referenced the costs associated successful participating successful endowment pathways and "conflicts of interests and biases" from coaches arsenic further barriers to subordinate progression.

"The operation and cognition of the endowment pathway remains a obstruction to equity and inclusion crossed gender, people and race," said the report. "It repeats and reinforces wider structural inequalities that beryllium crossed cricket successful England and Wales."

The ICEC's recommendations that inter-county cricket should not statesman earlier the property of 14 and each entree to a region endowment pathway programme should beryllium escaped of complaint by the 2025.

"We urge that the full endowment pathway operation should beryllium overhauled to marque it much meritocratic, inclusive, accountable, transparent and consistent," said the report.

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