Key Terminology

These include any organisation that regulates, administers or organises cricket in England and Wales, including the England and Wales Cricket Board, First Class Counties, Regional Women’s Teams, National Counties, County Cricket Boards and recreational cricket clubs.

These are shared expectations and rules that guide behaviour within a culture.

This refers to treating someone less favourably because of a protected characteristic. Protected characteristics are defined within the Equality Act 2010:

• age
• disability
• gender reassignment
• marriage or civil partnership
• pregnancy and maternity
• race (including colour, nationality, ethnic and national origin)
• religion or belief
• sex 
• sexual orientation

Direct discrimination by perception

This means treating one person less favourably because you believe they possess a protected characteristic e.g. refusing to hire someone with an Arabic name because you assume they are Muslim.

Direct discrimination by association

This means treating someone less favourably because they are associated with a person who has a protected characteristic (e.g. a family member).

Discrimination arising from disability and failure to make reasonable adjustments

These are two specific protections for people with a disability, in addition to the protections against direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

Harassment

This occurs when conduct or behaviour is unwanted and relates to a protected characteristic. It must have the effect or purpose of violating a person’s dignity or creating a hostile, intimidating, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.

Indirect discrimination

Indirect discrimination can happen when there are provisions, criteria or practices that appear to apply to everyone, but in practice discriminate against people with a protected characteristic (e.g. a minimum height requirement for a job could disadvantage women, who tend to be shorter than men). Indirect discrimination can be allowed if it can be objectively justified.

Victimisation

Victimisation is treating someone unfavourably because they have made an allegation of discrimination or supported an allegation (e.g. giving evidence as a witness).

Diversity recognises that everyone is different in a variety of visible and non-visible ways, and that those differences are to be recognised, respected and valued. The differences may include, but are not limited to, protected characteristics.

The England and Wales Cricket Board is the national governing and funding body for cricket in England and Wales, from recreational cricket to elite level.

The ECB is a private company owned by its members. The 41 ECB members are: the chairs of the 18 First Class Counties, the 21 Cricket Boards of the non-First Class/National Counties, the National Counties Cricket Association and the Marylebone Cricket Club.

ECB-governed and supported cricket includes England international teams, domestic professional clubs and teams (via First Class Counties, Women’s Regional Teams, National Counties and County Cricket Boards), and the network and infrastructure of the majority of the recreational game.

EDI is an acronym that stands for ‘Equity, Diversity and Inclusion’ or ‘Equality, Diversity and Inclusion’. Definitions for each of these terms are listed separately.

Equality is about ensuring that every individual has an equal opportunity to make the most of their lives and talents through equal treatment, regardless of where, what or whom they were born, or because of other characteristics.

Equity refers to fair and just practices, policies and behaviours that ensure individuals can reach their full potential without discrimination. Being equitable includes acknowledging and addressing structural inequalities (both historic and current) that advantage some and disadvantage others.

Inclusion refers to the overall culture of an organisation and the actions an organisation takes to ensure that all individuals feel welcome, supported and valued as a member of a team or in a particular environment. This may involve creating spaces for people to feel comfortable bringing more of themselves to the environment e.g. spaces to pray or meditate.

Overrepresented means there is a disproportionately large percentage of people from a particular group compared to the proportion of that group in the broader population.

Under the Regulations Governing the Qualification and Registration of Cricketers, this is defined as all competitive formats of cricket played by teams of a professional standard or in which the Cricketer is being paid to participate as a professional player. For both cases, this is regardless of whether Cricketers are playing under formats recognised as Official Cricket by the International Cricket Council, and includes First Class Cricket.

Recreational cricket refers to cricket where its primary purpose is participation that is not paid or considered professional cricket. Recreational cricket is overseen by the 39 County Cricket Boards (CCBs) that are primarily funded by the ECB. 

Many recreational clubs play cricket in local leagues run by volunteers. The highest level of recreational club cricket is run by 29 Premier Leagues across England and Wales which are directly affiliated to and funded by the ECB but managed independently.

A stakeholder is an individual, group or organisation that has any interest in any of the decisions or activities made by an organisation. In the context of cricket and the ECB, these may include cricket fans, journalists and media, players and coaches, cricket clubs, officials, governmental bodies such as the Department for Digital Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), sporting NGOs and equalities lobbying groups.

The talent pathway in England and Wales cricket refers to the structures and processes in place to allow talented junior players to progress from recreational club or school cricket into performance environments, representative teams, and eventually professional cricket.  For boys and girls, these may include County Age Group teams, Emerging Player Programmes and Academies.

Underrepresented means there is a disproportionately low percentage of people from a particular group compared to the proportion of that group in the broader population.

In this context, this means unfair treatment of someone based on their class (or perceptions of class). Examples could include being bullied or undermined, overlooked for opportunities or unfairly criticised.