GAME PLAN:
COUNTIES NEED DIVERSITY VISION
CALLING the under-representation of BAME players in county cricket “disappointing”, Gulfraz Riaz, chairman of the National Asian Cricket Council (NACC), has demanded “collective efforts” from everyone to address the issue.
He also extended the “full support” of the NACC in creating a “coming together” of all the cricketing stakeholders to discuss the situation.
A recent report by the Daily Mail revealed that there are only 33 British black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) players across 18 county clubs, while four teams have no BAME cricketers at all and just six out of 93 coaches are from a BAME background.
“It is quite clear from the report that the BAME representation in county clubs from players to people in administration is very low,” Riaz told Eastern Eye.
“In May 2018, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), created an action plan to better engage with south Asian communities. Due to the covid-19 pandemic, things have been difficult in 2020. But, as a first step, all the stakeholders – from players and county boards to community leaders – should come together and discuss the issue,” he added.
“There should be a strategy to find out where the Asian talent is. We need to pick talented boys and girls at an early age. Parents should play an important role in this. We can’t make a drastic change in the scenario overnight. It will take a couple of years to achieve the goal of sufficient Asian representation in England cricket.”
It is estimated that the Asian cricketing community represents 35 per cent of all active cricketers in the UK.
Riaz stressed that England World Cup winners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid are perfect examples of Asian talent in English cricket.
“Indian-origin players such as Monty Panesar, Vikram Solanki and Ravi Bopara have also exhibited their talent at international level. We need to understand their journey and where they have started to form a strategy and vision,” he said.
According to the Daily Mail’s report, four counties did not have a single homegrown BAME player in their squads, which number up to 28 for first-class and one-day duties. A further four counties have only one BAME player on their books while seven counties had no BAME presence on their executive or in the boardroom. Two-thirds of counties did not employ a single BAME coach with their first team or in the backroom staff.
Of the 41 chairmen of county boards that comprise the ECB, only one is from a BAME background – Leicestershire chair Mehmooda Duke – the report said.
It further stated that the ECB was so concerned that they were ready to fine counties who did not achieve greater diversity in the dressing room and the boardroom within the next two years.
Recently, the ECB has been challenged to do more to ensure its junior participation schemes are made relevant to the south Asian cricketing community.
As part of the long-term (2020-2024) ambitions of the South Asian action plan, the ECB wants to establish a network of urban cricket centres, install 1,000 nonturf pitches in urban areas and upgrade 100 turf pitches in urban areas.
It also seeks to support the progression of BAME coaches by adopting the ‘Rooney Rule’ for all coaching roles in England teams, with a two-three year ambition to introduce it to the county game. Besides, the ECB and the county cricket network want to increase the diversity of governance structures, making boards representative of their communities.