‘IT’S AN EARTHQUAKE’

ECB chief promising sweeping changes

ECB chief executive Tom Harrison described racism allegations that have rocked cricket as an “earthquake” which have portrayed the sport in the “worst possible way”.

In unveiling a 12-point disaster response, the governing body promised to shine a light on every area of the game, including dressing-room culture and representation at all levels.

And Harrison said a major shake-up in the regulation of the sport with an independent regulator assuming control from the governing body could be in the wings. Harrison said the allegations by Azeem Rafiq, below, had shown the sport – at professional and recreational level – was guilty of sweeping the issue under the carpet for far too long.

“The last few weeks have been very tough,” said Harrison. “It feels like an earthquake has hit us.

“Our game has been portrayed in the worst possible way in the world’s media.

Azeem Rafiq’s testimony and testimony from others has revealed serious issues, which we have collectively not dealt with for many decades. “There are clearly large numbers of people in the country who feel like cricket has not been there for them. This is our latest attempt to say we are listening and we are desperate to solve the problem.” The action plan is the upshot of the crisis meeting between all stakeholders in the game last week at The Oval.

Harrison also revealed the ECB were considering delivering the responsibility for handling complaints into independent hands.

More significantly, he added: “I think it’s the right time for us now collectively to work out whether we have got the right governance structures, given the pressures and the uniquely different role that the ECB plays now as a major sport.”