Former England skipper Andrew Strauss has described the damning report into discrimination in cricket as an “awakening” for the sport and urged those in power to offer more than “lip service” in response.
The long-awaited Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket report found racism was entrenched in the sport, that women routinely encountered sexism and misogyny and that little or no action has been taken to address class barriers within the sport.
The ICEC report describes the sport in England and Wales as “elitist and exclusionary”.
Strauss has spent much of his career in influential positions at the England and Wales Cricket Board, from England captain, to director of men’s cricket and latterly strategic adviser to the board, but left the organisation earlier this year.
“This is a real time of awakening for the game of cricket,” he said at an event for the Ruth Strauss Foundation.
“You have to move forward as a sport. The clear takeaway is the game has to do better, has to move forward and not be defensive.
“We have to make sure anyone who wants to play cricket feels included, welcomed and appreciated. If we get to that stage the game of cricket will be in a much healthier place.
“I was lucky enough to play in inclusive teams and I know how powerful that can be.
“What the report is obviously showing is we haven’t done well enough traditionally.
“It’s an important moment for the game to embrace this, learn the lesson, don’t pay lip service to it and make sure what we see at the back end is actually change.”
The ECB issued an unreserved apology for the failings highlighted in the report and to the victims of discrimination in cricket, and will work over the next three months on a package of reforms based on the 44 recommendations within the report.
Richard Gould, the ECB chief executive, said: “It is an existential issue for the sport. This is a report that the ECB specifically asked for two-and-a-half years ago, and deliberately did not set narrow parameters.
“This report is a seminal moment for us. It helps us to fully understand the scope of the issues within the game, it allows us to understand the apologies that we quite rightly make to those people that suffered discrimination.
“We are determined to be able to act on this report and deliver on its intent in the coming months.
“This report will contain lots of information which will come as a shock to many and many people will be disappointed by.
“But there’s also a huge amount of determination throughout the game, throughout the country, to make sure that cricket can deliver and in only a way that cricket can.”
