PCA to offer advice on sexual consent
Player workshops aim to ‘educate and protect’ Gambling and drinking addictions also covered
Sexual-consent workshops will be given to cricketers at senior and academy level for the first time under an initiative delivered by the Professional Cricketers’ Association. It comes as the issue of sexual consent is at the forefront of public discussion in the wake of the Me Too movement and a series of high-profile sexual-assault allegations and cases.
Police in Las Vegas announced on Tuesday they wanted to question footballer Cristiano Ronaldo about allegations of raping a woman in his hotel room in 2009 and the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the United States was dogged by claims of sexual assault.
A pilot session will be held with the England Lions squad at the end of this month before being rolled out to all first-class senior and academy squads next summer. The PCA has employed an outside company with the backing of the England and Wales Cricket Board and it will include sexual-consent education as part of its welfare workshops, which also include sessions on gambling addiction and drinking.
“We have been planning education in this area for some time and
‘The PCA aims to cover a variety of areas to help educate and protect players’
we are pleased to be working with the ECB on this sensitive area,” said Ian Thomas, the PCA director of development and welfare. “The PCA aims to cover a variety of areas to help educate professional cricketers to protect them and the culture of the game. The sexual-consent training we have timetabled for this winter will complement other areas, such as gambling, mental health awareness, illicit drugs and alcohol, as well as more practical-based educational workshops.”
The PCA has been planning the workshops since before the start of the Me Too campaign but it is now seen as a vital part of players’ education, particularly for those at the start of their careers. The PCA is using a company called Limeculture, which has worked with the Premier League.
The news follows the New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association this week announcing changes to its annual handbook to include advice on sexual consent.
“No matter the situation, sexual consent is crucial,” the handbook states. “If you want to have relations with someone, you are required by law to get consent from them each time. Consent must be freely given. This means they are saying yes because they want to, not because they might be too drunk to say no, or too scared to say no, or they want to stop you from harassing them to say yes.”
This winter, the PCA will also deliver workshops on illicit drugs and alcohol in association with Sporting Chance, while Patrick Foster, the former Northamptonshire cricketer, will talk about gambling addiction after he contemplated suicide when his debts spiralled.