E) GOVERNANCE AND LEADERSHIP
The ECB is the National Governing Body (NGB) for cricket in England and Wales and is responsible for all aspects of the game from recreational cricket through to the elite level (including promoting and regulating the game). The ECB helps fund every aspect of the sport: international teams (men’s, women’s, and disabilities), professional clubs and the recreational game plus charitable initiatives such as Chance to Shine. The ECB is a private company limited by guarantee and is owned by its 41 members, comprising the Chairs of the 18 First Class Counties, the 21 Cricket Boards of the non-First Class Counties, the National Counties Cricket Association and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
The ECB’s strategy for cricket, Inspiring Generations, sets out how they intend to grow cricket in England and Wales from 2020 to 2024. It describes how they plan to make cricket more accessible, engage children and young people and transform women’s and girls’ cricket. They also have a number of plans that sit underneath the strategy that the ECB say seek to improve equity in the game including, but not limited to, the South Asian Action Plan and the Transforming Women's and Girls' Cricket Action Plan.
On 26 November 2021, the ECB issued a new 2021-23 Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Plan (EDI Plan) as part of its Inspiring Generations strategy to make cricket a game for everyone. The EDI Plan includes a commitment to ‘evolve cricket’s culture, structures and governance at all levels’.
Also on 26 November 2021, the ECB published the game-wide action plan to tackle racism and discrimination that we referred to earlier, which had been agreed with the major stakeholders in the game (e.g. the First Class Counties and the Women’s Regional Teams). On 25 January 2022, the ECB published an update on the delivery of the 12 actions set out in the game-wide plan.
The next set of questions ask for your views and supporting evidence about the ECB’s efforts to make the sport more diverse, equitable and inclusive. If you cite any examples, please indicate how recently they took place.
You do not need to answer every question – just those you feel able to.