26th November 2021
| Mallory Gray
Cricket Wales fully supports the measures announced by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today, which have been drafted and agreed with the First Class Counties, County Cricket Boards, Women's Regional Hosts, the NCCA, MCC and PCA, in the wake of allegations and revelations of discrimination in the sport.
In addition to the 12-point plan, the ECB has also today launched its own EDI Plan, committed to providing additional resources to the game, and will take several further steps in support of consistent progress across the game.
These have been agreed with the game and will include:
- A review of governance and regulation in cricket to identify any opportunities to strengthen the structures and processes across the game
- £25 million of strategic funding over five years in support of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion actions
- The formation of a new anti-discrimination unit, within six months, to ensure that the ECB has the right resources and capabilities to help tackle discrimination, and provide guidance to the wider game.
While announcing tangible and immediate actions, through the plan published today, cricket will also continue to listen and learn from anyone who has experienced discrimination in the sport.
Further work is being undertaken by the ECB 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. Anyone who wishes to submit evidence to the Commission can do so, entirely anonymously, at the ICEC website.
Cricket Wales CEO, Leshia Hawkins, commented;
"We are proud to have participated fully in agreeing cricket's unified response to the challenges that our sport clearly faces in certain quarters; examples of which have been recently highlighted, particularly, by Azeem Rafiq and his testimony at the DCMS Select Committee.
"While we feel we are relatively advanced in matters of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, as an organisation, we will absolutely not allow ourselves to be complacent on this critical issue and, alongside colleagues at Glamorgan Cricket and across the game, we will now seek to go further, faster.
"Our end goal is clear; That EVERYONE in our game feels welcome, and able to be themselves, when participating in cricket at any level.
"We have this week reiterated, both publicly and internally, our zero tolerance approach to racism and discrimiation in any form. We will advance our work with cricket's stakeholders, as well as other partners and experts in this field, to continue our own education and personal growth. Collectively, we will ensure everyone in Wales is able to say 'Cricket is a Game for me'."
Anyone wishing to read more about Cricket Wales' existing endeavours and long-standing commitments in EDI, can find more information here.
#WeAreALLWelshCricket