The English cricket system is rotten with racial discrimination and a cultural change is needed more than ever. The chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, Tom Harrison is determined to lead that change through the racism scandal and stated that he has received backing of the game.
Harrison faced a countrywide backlash for his handling of the matter following Azeem Rafiq’s allegations against Yorkshire County Cricket Club. An all-game meeting with the sport’s stakeholders took place on Friday at the Kia Oval. Speaking after the meeting, Harrison, who has held the position since 2015, told the reporters that he is going to stay on and is determined to bring about a cultural change.
“I feel passionately about this issue. It’s something I feel to my core. I’ve been trying to drive an inclusive and diverse sport from the moment I arrived as chief executive in 2015. I feel very motivated and very supported to make sure that change happens in the game. I received the backing of the game today, absolutely,”
he said.
The ECB also released a joint statement on behalf of 18 first-class and other non first-class county members, promising swift actions to tackle racism, with the details to be revealed next week.
“[The game’s stakeholders] have committed to tangible action and discussed several areas of focus including stamping out discrimination, making cricket more open and inclusive and ensuring effective governance and leadership,”
read the statement.
In an emotional testimony to the parliamentary committee, Rafiq gave a detailed account of the harrowing experiences he endured during his two stints at YCCC.
Also read 👉 Rafiq labels Root’s statement “hurtful”, says he lost his career to racism
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Several prominent figures in English cricket were implicated in the report including former England players Michael Vaughan, Gary Ballance, Alex Hales, Tim Bresnan, Matthew Hoggard and current Yorkshire head coach Andrew Gale and director of cricket Martyn Moxon.
Racism allegations have already emerged from Essex in the past week while Middlesex, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire were also mentioned during the DCMS hearing.
