Cricket, racism, sexism and elitism, according to a report

From our correspondent in LondonAnd

The report is sad for Anglo Welsh Federation. More than 4,000 players and coaches witnessed it. Among the conclusions: racism is “rooted” in sports.

Three-quarters of black gamers say they are victims of discrimination, and more than 80% of players from the Indian subcontinent. This goes through petty harassment and insults on the field from other players and fans. but also standardization by sporting authorities. The report, which was produced by an independent panel, also notes the lack of representation of ethnic minorities in the major English and Welsh cricket bodies. Only one black person among the authorities, less than 3% of the South Asian population while accounting for more than a quarter of the licensees!

The gender pay gap

As for women, it comes down to one number: Professionals earn five times as much as men. Even at amateur level, they have less access to the infrastructure and the committee mentions a “locker room culture” that leads to misogyny on stadiums.

Either way, the report points to a lack of representation of minorities – ethnic or gender – in decision-making bodies. In similar proportions, we find this in other sports, and in society for that matter. But one of the characteristics of cricket is the class dimension. Cricket is a sport for the rich. Enrolling your kids in a club can cost up to €1,000 a year, between the equipment, jerseys, license and travel inherent in any team sport.

One way to get to cricket via School, especially for the gifted. Here, there is a real dichotomy between private schools, which are often very expensive and very reputable, and public schools, which are more disadvantaged, and which allow little or no of their students to discover and play cricket…thereby, attracting attention and thus winning scholarships tuition. Conversely, coaches and clubs recruit directly from private schools.

System Boys club

Furthermore, in England, one of the greatest encounters of cricket is the annual match between Cambridge and Oxford, two universities that are prestigious across the country and among the most expensive. System report Boys clubSome forty recommendations: give more visibility to women’s leagues, achieve equal pay by 2030, replace recruitment systems for more transparency and establish effective complaints procedures.

The federation is “studying” these recommendations and will respond to them within three months. But, what has to be noted is that Anglo-Welsh cricket knew all of that, at least the whole racism part. A previous report alluded to discrimination 24 years ago, but the federation has not implemented the necessary changes… This time, the Equity Commission is calling for swift action.