CRICKET’S RACE SHAME
Only 33 BAME players at 18 clubs ++ 4 counties have no BAME stars ++ 6 out of 93 coaches are BAME ++ ECB will fine counties who fail to hit targets
The full extent of english cricket’s shocking diversity problem can be revealed today. An investigation by Sportsmail has unearthed details of the racial imbalance within county cricket, a professional sport almost exclusively populated by white players, coaches and administrators.
The eCB are so concerned they are ready to effectively fine counties who do not achieve greater diversity in the dressing room and the boardroom within the next two years. Among many alarming pieces of data,
Sportsmail’s investigation has found: l There were only 33 British Black, Asian and Minority ethnic (BAMe) players on first-team staffs of the 18 counties this summer.
lFour counties did not have a single home-grown BAMe player in their squads, which number up to 28 for first-class and one-day duties.
lA 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. lTwo-thirds of counties did not employ one BAMe coach with their first-team or in the backroom staff. lOf the 41 chairmen of county boards who comprise the eCB — 18 first-class counties, 21 minor counties, the MCC and Minor Counties Cricket Association — only one is from a BAMe background, Leicestershire chair Mehmooda Duke.
Under the terms of the new County Partnership Agreement, the eCB reserve the right to withhold a portion of the counties’ annual funding, which ranges from £3.6million to £3.8m, if they do not hit diversity targets, which have been set to ensure each county staff reflects the club’s community and local demographics.
While Jofra Archer, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Chris Jordan have all been key members of england’s red and white-ball sides in recent years, that diversity is not reflected in the 18 counties responsible for producing the next generation.
Speaking to Sportsmail, former england skipper Nasser hussain said: ‘The lack of diversity within the english game makes for damning reading. The grim numbers show problems in desperate need of solving.
‘Modern Britain is a multicultural society but we are not reflecting that across the 18 counties.
‘The only thing I would say to temper this is that it’s only been two years since the eCB launched their South Asian programme to forge better connections.
‘Yes, you could argue that something should have been done sooner but it would be churlish to be critical of positive action. Let’s accept these things need time.
‘So what can be done now? Well, whenever you look at sport, you need to look to its opposite ends simultaneously. To the top, at the people making the decisions, and to the bottom, your ingredients — the youngsters who are playing.
‘Solving issues at one end does not solve those at the other.
‘Perhaps it is also down to an unconscious bias. When it comes to a decision between two players, is it easier for a coach to choose a white, middle-class lad?
‘It’s a question we need to keep asking.
‘But if greater diversity existed in coaches and administrators, it would reduce the need to pose it.’
Cricket is also grappling with some difficult issues regarding diversity and race relations, despite the support it has shown for the Black Lives Matter movement, with players from england and West Indies taking the knee before this summer’s matches.
Yorkshire opened a formal investigation earlier this month into allegations of ‘institutional racism’ made by their former off-spinner Azeem Rafiq.
he said it had left him contemplating suicide and his harrowing account was backed up by former Pakistan seamer Rana Naved, who said he had to face ‘systematic taunting’ when he was on the books at headingley.
earlier in the summer, ex-england batsman Michael Carberry claimed cricket was ‘rife with racism’ and that ‘the people running the game don’t care about black people’.
Although the eCB published an Inclusion and Diversity strategy in July, the shocking homogeneity of county staffs shows how far the sport still has to go.
The governing body are also falling short themselves. After recent changes at Lord’s, the eCB are no longer complying with the Sport england code for the ethnic make-up of boardrooms.
Following Lord Patel of Bradford’s departure last month, the eCB board is now exclusively white, a situation that new chairman Ian Watmore admitted was unacceptable on his first day in the job.
As well as setting targets for the counties linked to funding, the eCB have taken several other significant steps since publishing their diversity strategy two months ago. An antidiscrimination charter, to prohibit discriminatory conduct and including an obligation to promote individuals from minority backgrounds, is being developed with eCB director Brenda Trenowden appointed as the board’s diversity champion.
In addition, the eCB have launched a bursary scheme for black coaches worth £29,000 a year that will operate alongside an existing programme for south Asian coaches, which is run in conjunction with the National Asian Cricket Council.