English Cricket is Racist, Sexist and Elitist, Bombshell Report Reveals

In the midst of the England-Australia Ashes cricket series that is scoring record viewership for Sky Sports, a bombshell report has revealed that rot runs deep in the sport in England.

The report, published on Tuesday by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC), was commissioned by the England Cricket Board (ECB) in 2021 after the Equality and Human Rights Commission was called upon to conduct a formal investigation into allegations of racism in English cricket. More than 4000 people responded to the ICEC’s call for evidence.

87% of Pakistani and Bangladeshi respondents, 82% of Indian respondents and 75% of Black respondents told the survey that they have experienced discrimination.

The damning report, titled Holding Up A Mirror To Cricket, states that racism is entrenched in cricket. The game’s structures lead to racial disparities and discrimination and the ICEC heard many examples of stereotyping, exclusion and racist behaviour.

It also notes that women are marginalized and routinely experience sexism and misogyny. The women’s game is treated as subordinate to the men’s game, and women have little or no power, voice or influence within cricket’s decision-making structures.

In addition, there is little to no focus on addressing class barriers in cricket, the report states. Private schools dominate the talent pathway, there is scarce provision of cricket in state schools and there are substantial cost barriers faced by those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

The report also reveals that the complaints system is confusing, overly defensive and not fit for purpose. There is profound mistrust, victims and those accused of discrimination are not properly supported and people are simply not reporting, for fear of victimization and concern that no action will be taken. It also adds that the systems in place to ensure equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) require significant improvement.

On the positive side, the report acknowledges there have been sizeable improvements in the ECB’s approach to EDI since 2018 and commends its South Asian Action Plan and the Transforming Women’s and Girls’ Cricket Action Plan for having a positive impact across the game.

The ICEC has set out 44 recommendations to transform the game’s culture and as a first step suggests the ECB makes an unqualified public apology “for its own failings and those of the game it governs.”

Additional key recommendations include: there should be a fundamental overhaul of the professional women players’ pay structure and that the women’s game should have equal representation to the men’s game throughout English and Welsh cricket’s governance structure; the ECB must develop an action plan to revive Black cricket; the ECB must develop a game-wide strategy to remove class barriers; the entire talent pathway structure should be overhauled to make it more meritocratic, inclusive, accountable and free of direct costs by 2025; and that a new regulatory body, independent of the ECB, must be established to increase trust and confidence in the regulatory process.

ICEC chair Cindy Butts said: “Our findings are unequivocal. Racism, class-based discrimination, elitism and sexism are widespread and deep rooted. The game must face up to the fact that it’s not banter or just a few bad apples. Discrimination is both overt and baked into the structures and processes within cricket. The stark reality is cricket is not a game for everyone.”

ECB chair Richard Thompson described the report as a “wake up call for cricket” and said “we must never again exclude anyone on the basis of their ethnicity, gender or social background,” while offering an unreserved apology on behalf of the ECB and the wider leadership of the game.

The report comes at a time when viewership in the U.K. is at an all-time high. The opening game of the Ashes series brought Sky Sports their highest ever viewing figures for a Test match, with a peak of 2.12 million viewers in home. The Sky Sports app had 11.7 million page views compared to 1.5 million at the 2019 Ashes, with skysports.com recording 3.9 million page views versus 2.7 million in 2019. Digital streaming of the game saw 1.8 million views.

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