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The England and Wales Cricket Board has made a “mistake” in not committing to making participation in the county talent pathway free, according to the chair of the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket, Cindy Butts.
The ECB revealed several new action plans on Wednesday in its bid to make cricket the most inclusive team sport in England and Wales, including a specific plan to boost participation in state schools by training hundreds of teachers and investing up to £26m in facilities by 2030. The governing body is also aiming “to provide free cricket for 3.5 million children in state primary schools over the next six years”.
The announcement comes more than a year after the publication of the Icec report, which found “deeply rooted and widespread forms” of institutional and structural racism, sexism and class-based discrimination across cricket. One of its recommendations was for the ECB to implement a state schools action plan, which has been followed.
Another recommendation was for the county talent pathway to be made free. In an update last month reporting on progress since the publication of the Icec report, the ECB said it had invested £3m since 2022 “to reduce costs to parents of participation in county age group programmes” but added that a completely free pathway “would involve diverting significant additional resource from other meaningful projects, and much of this investment would be benefiting those who can afford to contribute”.
The same update reported that three of the 18 first-class counties – Durham, Yorkshire and Lancashire – “now operate completely free talent pathways, including the provision of playing kit”.
Butts praised the ECB for making progress in matters of equity but highlighted areas to work on, too. “One of my key concerns since we made our recommendations is that they have not committed to making the talent pathway free for all,” she told the Guardian.
“I think that’s a mistake. We commissioners were firmly of the view that cricket will never be a game truly for everyone unless the talent pathway is made free. There is a tendency, and I understand it, to focus a lot on participation. Participation is incredibly important and I’ve seen a couple of the things they are doing in respect of state school funding, which is excellent.
“But progression is also important. And at the moment cost is a significant barrier to underrepresented groups, whether that’s on the basis of class, gender, race or a combination of all three. It’s a significant barrier to greater levels of involvement and fairness.”
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Alongside its state school action plan the ECB has also published a talent pathway action plan, with a pilot programme in which state-school cricketers receive extra coaching in the county age-group system.
“One thing I would say about the ECB is that I think that they’ve kept the momentum up and are continuing on a longer programme of improvement,” Butts said. “So hats off to them for that. I think that is excellent and a real model for other organisations.”