While the relative merits of Bazball continue to be debated, focus has swung away from arguably the most critical challenge that the sport faces: the findings from the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (Icec), published at the end of June. Its report, Holding Up a Mirror to Cricket, concluded that: “Cricket is not ‘a game for everyone’.”
It’s not the first major review of a sport with shocking findings, and it won’t be the last. Numerous Olympic and Paralympic sports have had such reviews and been heavily criticised over the past decade. Anne Whyte, a KC, spent two years reviewing the mistreatment of gymnasts, revealing appalling stories of abuse. You’d think by now that sports leaders would be experts, alert to the traps and mistakes of the past. The Icec report reminds us that’s not the case, uncomfortably pointing out that similar issues had already surfaced in the 1999 “Clean Bowl Racism” report yet never been addressed.
