Submission to the Independent Commission on Equity in Cricket
Following Azeem Rafiq’s testimony in Parliament about his experiences at the Yorkshire County Cricket Club, the Commission initiated a local consultation in December 2021. It is clear from the growing body of evidence; including that reported to the ECWCB’s own Independent Commission on Equity in Cricket (headed by Cindy Butts) that these few cases are not isolated. Indeed, there is a deeper malaise across the game at every level, affecting people from all minority ethnic communities and we would like to see resolute action being taken here in Bristol and the region.
In December 2021, CoRE wrote to the main cricketing bodies responsible for the game in Bristol to begin engagement with them. As part of this letter, we asked them how they propose addressing these concerns as they impact on the game of cricket and how it is administered, governed, organised, and played in Bristol and just how seriously they are taking the issues that are unfolding about racism in the sport.
On the back of this, and as part of our evidence gathering for our submission to the ICEC, we held our first session with local cricket teams on the 8th of March to understand the experiences of Black and Minoritised players of cricket in our area. This was an informative session in which players discussed some harrowing scenes. These comments will be included in our submission to the ICEC once anonymised by the research team but much of this included physical and verbal abuse, being asked to present passports, and being told to create a separate league.
CoRE also met with the region’s boards on the 13th of April to discuss how we might collaborate with them to maintain momentum on this issue and in particular; to find out how the administrators of the game in our area are going about implementing the ECB’s Action Plan on Racial Equality. Our primary purpose was to engage with them, but we also want to support the leadership and facilitate the process through which the ECB Action Plan takes shape locally. We will submit our findings as part of a national call for evidence by the Independent Commission on Equity in Cricket (ICEC).