Game Wide Commitments to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Cricket should be a game for everyone. Everybody involved in the game should be treated with dignity and respect, and there should be no place for discrimination of any type. Unfortunately, recent events have highlighted that this is not always the case, and that the game needs to do more to be fully inclusive and address discrimination.
The Derbyshire Cricket Foundation, along with all the other County Cricket Boards, the ECB, the MCC, the Professional Cricketers Association, the National Counties Cricket Association, the First Class Counties, and the Women’s Regional Hosts, has pledged to support to a set of game-wide commitments to help create a culture to eliminate discrimination.
While taking tangible and immediate action through the plan published today, cricket will continue to listen and learn from anyone who has experienced discrimination in the sport. Further work is being undertaken to examine these issues through the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket and ongoing investigations into racism allegations and the handling of complaints made by Azeem Rafiq and others. Cricket’s leaders will also consult with independent third-party organisations with significant expertise in resolving similar issues. The game expects to take further action based on the findings and recommendations that come out of these processes.
The measures agreed today include a series of immediate changes as well as the instigation of a review period that will incorporate the work of the ICEC and other inquiries into discrimination in cricket. The initial aims include:
Understanding and educating more
1. Adoption within three months of a standardised approach to reporting, investigating, and responding to complaints, allegations, and whistleblowing across the game.
2. Full promotion of the aims of the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) through proactive engagement with its investigations and recommendations.
3. Ongoing EDI training for all those who work in cricket, including all staff, volunteers, recreational club officials, umpires, directors, and coaches.
Addressing dressing room culture
4. A full review of dressing room culture in all men’s and women’s professional teams, both domestic and international.
5. Delivery of a redesigned programme of player and coach education, addressing any gaps identified through the dressing room review.
Removing barriers in talent pathways
6. Action to aid progress into professional teams of people from diverse backgrounds (especially South Asian, Black and less privileged youngsters) through measures to address i) talent identification and scouting, ii) education and diversity of coaches and iii) targeted support programmes for players from diverse or under-privileged backgrounds.
Creating welcoming environments for all
7. A full-scale review, in advance of the 2022 season, into the detection, enforcement, and sanctions against discriminatory and abusive crowd behaviour at each of our professional cricket grounds.
8. Delivery of plans (tailored to local communities) to ensure professional cricket venues are welcoming to all, including provision of accessible seating, food and beverage offering catering to all faiths and cultures, and the availability of facilities such as multi-faith rooms and alcohol-free zones.
9. Upgraded education in recreational cricket to ensure players, volunteers and coaches understand and champion inclusion and diversity in the game.
Publishing localised EDI Action Plans within six months
The ECB will today publish its 2021-2023 Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan with clear actions and targets. The ECB will then work with any of its members who do not yet have an EDI plan in place to create (or revise) their own localised version within six months, with actions to include:
10. A commitment to best practice governance with targets for Board diversity (30% female, locally representative ethnicity by April 2022) and plans to increase diversity across the wider organisation. (Compliance will be subject to a “comply or explain” provision to ensure Counties can respect their own governance processes in making the required change).
11. The introduction of fairer recruitment processes through measures including the immediate adoption of anonymised recruitment tools for senior roles, open appointment processes for all roles and the use of balanced and diverse panels to assess interviews.
12. Every senior executive employed across the game will have personal EDI objectives as part of their annual performance targets, driving leadership accountability.
Anti-Discrimination Code
The ECB anti-discrimination code can be found on the DCF website (link below). We will work with leagues across Derbyshire to support the adoption of this code prior to the 2022 season.
Anti-Discrimination Code – Click Here
The Independent Commission on Equity in Cricket – Call for Evidence
An Independent Commission on Equity in Cricket (ICEC) was established earlier this year. The commission will gather feedback and evidence on the culture of cricket, to find out about the perceptions, expectations and experiences of people connected with cricket – in whatever capacity – and discover what hinders or helps inclusion and equity in the game. The Call for Evidence process has now started with an anonymous online survey that is an opportunity for everyone involved in cricket to tell the ICEC their views on the culture in the game. The survey takes approximately 20 minutes to complete, and it would be excellent if as many people connected with cricket across Derbyshire could respond to it. The ICEC wants to hear from anyone who has a connection, or a past connection, to cricket and the more people that complete the survey, the more representative the evidence will be. The DCF will be promoting the survey via our social media channels, but would appreciate you promoting it within your club, as you see appropriate.
The survey is not for individuals wishing to report specific instances of discrimination – a separate process has been established for people wishing to do that, and more details are provided below.
More information about the Commission and the survey can be found at the links below.
More information: https://theicec.com
To complete the survey: https://eu.research.net/r/PH2H6XM
Reporting Discrimination
The ECB is committed to taking all allegations of discrimination within cricket in England and Wales very seriously and has set up a dedicated reporting process for anybody who wishes to report any allegations of discrimination of any type which they have experienced or witnessed. More information on this reporting process can be found at the link below.
https://www.ecb.co.uk/reporting-discrimination
Your support on this is very much appreciated. If you have any questions please do contact your club development officer or email: info@dcfcricket.com
