Photo Credit: ECB
One year on from the response to the ICEC report, the ECB is updating on the progress made against the actions it set out to become a more inclusive sport.
Today the ECB is publishing its latest update on work being undertaken to drive equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) across cricket. The update marks one year since the ECB initially responded to the Independent Commission for Equity on Cricket (ICEC) report and the 137 recommendations and sub-recommendations it had put forward in 2023.
Across the game, and through dedicated workstreams led by the ECB, there has been significant progress in the last 12 months, most notably:
- Redefining the structure of the talent pathway, including changes to selection age groups and reducing barriers to entry around time and cost. This is alongside education programmes to help coaches and selectors make more informed and transparent decisions.
- The creation of a new arm’s length body – the Cricket Regulator – and an updated Regulatory Board, both independent from the existing ECB Executive and Board governance – to improve the way discrimination issues are handled.
- Increased investment (an additional £2m) in the ECB’s key delivery partners to provide free cricket to more state school children, open up talent pathways to young people from state schools and ethnically diverse communities, and help young British South Asian cricketers make their professional breakthrough.
- A new structure for women’s professional domestic cricket which has been supplemented by equalised match fees for England Men and Women, increases in women’s pay in The Hundred and equal representation in the game’s governance structures. The ECB continues to invest well over forecasted women’s revenues to further grow the women’s and girls’ game, with increased investment in women’s domestic cricket to fund the new structure, reaching an additional £8m a year by 2027.
- Investing over £3.5m on more than 325 facilities projects to create more welcoming environments for female cricketers, people with a disability and families, and to enhance playing opportunities for women and girls.
- The ECB has worked with the whole game to establish a set of game-wide values which will sit at the core of our culture change.
- Introducing enhanced minimum EDI standards within the latest iteration of the County Partnership Agreement including increased gender (40%) and local ethnic diversity targets.
- Delivering a game-wide Inclusive Leadership Programme in which over 300 leaders participated, including ECB Leaders, County CEOs and Lead Officers.
- Bringing in Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) within the ECB’s Business Planning process, ensuring all medium and large projects have considered the impact on their work on the ambition to be the country’s most inclusive team sport.
- Developing action plans for Ethnically Diverse Communities, Volunteers, State Schools and the Talent Pathway – all of which will be published next month.
The full one-year-on progress update against the ICEC report is included in this link, with chapters on all key areas of activity.
Richard Thompson, ECB Chair, said: “A year ago, we published our response to the ICEC report into racism, sexism and class-based discrimination in cricket.
“We made a commitment to wide-ranging action aimed at tackling discrimination and breaking down barriers for women and girls, people from lower socio-economic groups, and ethnically diverse communities, and today I’m pleased to report on the progress we have made in that time.
“I have seen numerous pioneering examples of cricket leading change. Whether that is locally in state school playgrounds or through to huge new regional facilities like the dome at Bradford Park Avenue and the success at elite level of graduates from the South Asian Cricket Academy, we are making progress.
“But we know there is much more work to do and it’s only the start of the journey. We have a number of plans and structures in place to allow us to accelerate change through 2025 and 2026. And we recognise that in some areas lasting, meaningful change will take a long time.
“This is a game-wide effort and we are grateful to the partners who have taken this on and helped us make this progress – our First Class and National Counties, charity partners, advocacy and advisory groups, Sport England and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
“While we continue to acknowledge the challenges, historic and current, it is also true that cricket has a unique ability to connect the communities of England and Wales. For that reason, I remain confident and determined that cricket will become this country’s most inclusive team sport.”
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The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the national governing body for cricket in England and Wales, formed on January 1, 1997. It combines roles from the Test and County Cricket Board, National Cricket Association, and Cricket Council, and integrated the Women’s Cricket Association in 1998. Based at Lord’s Cricket Ground, the ECB oversees all levels of cricket, including national teams for men, women, and various disability categories.
