The chair of the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC), Cindy Butts, this week issued a stern word of warning to the world of cricket. Butts said the sport continues to face a time of “reckoning” because of the Azeem Rafiq drama, and that the time has come to take an honest look at discrimination in the game.
Butts this week asked for written evidence for completing her independent report, which is due to be released in the autumn. According to Butts, the ICEC had received a confounding response to an online survey conducted on discrimination in the sport, with more than 4,000 respondents providing details of their experiences. The chair said she was not yet in a position to provide any details regarding the outcome of the survey due to the ongoing process, but that it has become glaringly obvious that all isn’t as it should be in the game of cricket.
The mandate given to the ICEC is to identify those actions that will have to be undertaken by the England and Wales Cricket Board in order to effectively tackle discrimination issues. Butts on Wednesday commended Rafiq for his incredible bravery in speaking out about his own experience of racial discrimination. She said his bravery had spurred others on to talk about issues of race in the sport.
The commission was formed in November 2020 and now seeks written evidence from people affected by discrimination in cricket. Those wanting to contribute have been invited to do so by April 20. This initiative has even drawn the attention of NZ betting sites, which have started to consider the impact of such investigations on the sport’s integrity and betting markets.
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