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:
● There were only 33 British Black, Asian and Minority ethnic (BAMe) players on firstteam staffs of the 18 counties this summer.
● 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 one BAME coach with their first-team or in the backroom staff.
● Of 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 (below), 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. 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 anti-discrimination 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.
By PAUL NEWMAN
ESSEX yesterday took a narrow advantage in county cricket’s inaugural red-ball ‘cup final’ on the day it emerged that the three-conference system is here to stay. Last year’s county champions reduced perennial runners-up Somerset to 119 for four on a rain-affected first day of the Bob Willis Trophy final as Lord’s staged the first of what is set to become a regular first-class showpiece climax to the domestic season. This late-season clash of the best two red-ball teams in the country is likely to be a low-scoring affair, mainly because of the two potent attacks, and it was Essex who struck the first blows in the 44 overs possible. Sam Cook made the breakthrough in his first over to have Somerset’s exciting young opener Tom Lammonby plumb lbw for a duck to claim his 100th first-class wicket. ‘To reach that landmark here at the home of cricket was a special feeling,’ said Cook. Cook also bowled Ben Green with a beauty that clipped off-stump but it was the least effective Essex bowler in Aaron Beard who claimed the key wicket of Somerset captain Tom Abell thanks to a spectacular leg-side catch from keeper Adam Wheater. The positive response to the structure of the trophy has meant that county chairmen are set to vote in the introduction of a conference system next year in place of the twodivision championship.
Sportsmail understands the plan, which will culminate in another five-day county ‘Test’ at Lord’s in early October, will be adopted on a one-year trial basis.
at Lord’s. Somerset 119-4, Day 1