English cricket stands accused of being racist, sexist and elitist at its core in a damning report that immediately forced an unreserved apology from authorities.
In its landmark 316-page review, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket demands “urgent reform” while laying bare deep-rooted discrimination across the game.
In an attack on failures in the game, the report finds “the systems that cricket has in place for handling allegations of discrimination are unfit for purpose”. The England and Wales Cricket Board accepts the findings will “shock and disappoint many”.
The authors, who began their work in 2021 amidst the Azeem Rafiq racism furore, added they had overruled those in the game who encouraged them via a survey “not to bow to the scourge of wokeness”. “We are clear, as a commission, that racism in cricket is not confined to ‘pockets’ or ‘a few bad apples’, nor is it limited to individual incidents of misconduct,” the report adds.
The report, called ‘Holding Up A Mirror To Cricket’, identifies a “gulf” in perceptions within the sport between “white, middle-class men”, who are described as Type K, and all other groups.
“The extent of the disconnect between the views of Type K and marginalised groups in cricket is a theme that runs throughout our report,” the authors added.
However, amid much criticism about the way the Rafiq scandal was handled by authorities, the report also said those accused of wrongdoing also deserve assurances they would face a fair trial.
The report made 44 recommendations for the ECB. Included in recommendations are potential changes to the Cricket Discipline Commission, with the review ruling “failures of the regulatory processes have contributed significantly to the crisis that the game is currently facing”. “The phrase ‘marking your own homework’ was often used in evidence to us,” the report adds.
With the ECB urged by the panel to make an “unqualified public apology for its own failings and those of the game it governs”, the governing body’s chair, Richard Thompson, immediately said sorry and pledged in a letter to ICEC chair Cindy Butts: “We will use this moment to reset cricket.”
Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, later admitted “we know that the results will shock and disappoint many”.
In regard to the women’s game, Butts questioned why the England team is yet to play a Test Match at Lord’s.
But Butts did highlight that the report had found “encouraging examples of good practice” and congratulated the ECB for being “brave enough” to commission the report in the first place. “We have confidence in the ECB’s new leadership and their ability to take our recommendations forward — the proof will be demonstrable change.”
The Daily Telegraph in London
