Photo Credit: Professional Cricketers’ Association
Chief Executive Rob Lynch calls for leaders to work together for equitable future.
The PCA welcomes the findings from the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) Report and acknowledges the need to address discrimination throughout the game.
PCA Chief Executive, Rob Lynch, said:
“We thank the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) for their diligence in producing this landmark Report. As the member-body for professional cricketers in England and Wales, we are committed to leading change within the professional game.
“Many of our members have been incredibly brave over recent years, detailing their experiences of discrimination within professional cricket environments. We thank them for openly sharing these often-painful accounts.
“The PCA totally condemns discrimination of any kind. The game must acknowledge and continue to learn from the past and focus on the future to ensure that cricket can be a sport for all.
“The Report provides an opportunity to work with the leaders of cricket in England and Wales to create genuine sustainable change. It will be a long process and it must be a journey the whole sport is fully committed to.
“The PCA sees this as an opportunity for the Association, led by our members, to lead the much needed required changes to create a truly inclusive environment for the current and future generations to thrive.”
ROB LYNCH
“The independent nature of this Report has allowed the ICEC to challenge all areas of the professional game to support the development of equality, diversity and inclusion in English and Welsh cricket. The PCA sees this as an opportunity for our members and the organisation to lead the much needed changes to create a truly inclusive and fair environment for the current and future generations to thrive.
“We welcome the recommendations on overhauling women players’ pay and working conditions. We have been lobbying the ECB to close the gap across domestic and international women’s cricket and the Commissioners’ recommendations will further assist this goal.
“Following extensive consultation with members and repeated lobbying of the ECB, we hope the ICEC Report will help to define a new regulatory process for the professional game, to provide absolute clarity for all involved. An improved Anti-Discrimination Code also needs to be implemented to assure all in the game are protected.
“We note the Commissioners’ recognition of strides that have been made in EDI in recent years, and acknowledge we have a vast amount of work ahead.
“We want cricket to be a game for everyone. The PCA aims to work constructively and robustly with the ECB over the next three months as they create a new whole game action plan, to address the recommendations of the Report.”
For more information on the PCA’s EDI vision, click here.
Name of Author: Professional Cricketers Association
The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), founded in 1967 by former England fast bowler Fred Rumsey as the Cricketers’ Association, represents past and present first-class cricketers in England and Wales. In the 1970s, the PCA established a standard employment contract and minimum wage for professional cricketers. It also helped create a pension scheme in 1995 and launched the magazine All Out Cricket and the ACE UK Educational Programme in 2002.
