Access to cricket in state schools is “a real problem”, the chief executive of the game in England and Wales has acknowledged, as he set out the game’s initial plans to tackle the systemic discrimination identified by an independent commission.
Reiterating his aim that cricket should become “the most inclusive sport in England and Wales”, Richard Gould, the chief executive of the ECB, announced a host of wide-ranging measures – including changes to governance, education, funding and regulation – that aim to meet the 147 recommendations made by in a report by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (Icec) in June.
Those include the establishment of an independent regulator, increased training and education on equality, diversity and inclusion(EDI), and action plans to break down barriers for Black and south Asian communities.
The most radical and eye-catching of the interventions, equal match fees for England’s men’s and women’s players, was revealed at the end of August, but the ECB would not commit to equal pay across the sport on average at domestic level by 2029 and at international level by 2030.
Gould said the majority ofIcec’s recommendations to the ECB were now on course for delivery. “We’re pleased that after less than 100 days we’ve been able to take what we think was an excellent report and deliver 96% so far,” he said. This includes the allocation of £25m each year to further grow the women’s game, alongside a pledge to triple the number of girls’ club teams by 2026.
But ensuring cricket is as accessible to state-educated pupils as to those at independent schools will, Gould said, require “significantly more work”. “Government is going to be really key to this,” he said. “We’re going to have to come up with a strategic plan and, frankly, strategic alliances that go across government.”
As an immediate measure, the ECB is investing an additional £2m in charities that are already working to offer cricket to state-school pupils, including its existing partners Chance to Shine, the African-Caribbean Engagement (Ace) programme, and the Lord’s Taverners. It will also, for the first time, help to fund the MCC Foundation’s National Hub network, which provides training and matchplay opportunities for state-school pupils outside the county talent pathway programme: that network is now projected to double in size over the next two years, providing 150 hubs and reaching 5,000 children.
Icec had called for the replacement of the Eton v Harrow and Oxford v Cambridge fixtures at Lord’s with finals days of tournaments open to state schools and nationwide universities. This was “a matter for MCC”, said Gould. The MCC said later on Monday there was no immediate change to its plan to allow the matches to continue at Lord’s until at least 2027. “In light of the Icec report this is a matter we will need to continue to keep under regular consideration,” Bruce Carnegie-Brown, the MCC chair, said.
After a bruising 12 months that included the public hearings over institutional racism at Yorkshire in the following the Azeem Rafiq case, those running English cricket will be hoping that Monday’s s announcement can mark the start of a new chapter. “We’re on a journey to try and change history in terms of what cricket looks like,” said Gould. Richard Thompson, chairman of the ECB, added that “we want to double down on our apology to those that we have let down, and that we have discriminated against”.
On equal pay at elite level, Gould said: “We know though that we need to accelerate the growth of the commercial element of the women’s game. Broadcast value is the key determinant in any of these sports, and that is something we are going to have to deliver on.
“That’s why we want to be open and honest and say that’s not necessarily something we can do within those timescales, but we’ll have a good go. Most of our current major broadcast contract runs until the end of 2028. We know we’ve got a journey on there … we’re going to do whatever we can.”
The £25m earmarked for the women’s game alone stands outside projected revenues, which means a redrawing of budgets, while an intended overhaul of the talent pathway, which ultimately aims to make it less costly for its young participants, will be complex and difficult to resource.
“Yes there is a lot of cost attached,” said Gould, “but we don’t see it as a cost, we see it as an investment. It’s exactly the right sort of thing we should be doing with our money.”
Cindy Butts, the chair of Icec, said she and her committee were “carefully considering” the ECB’s response.
