England Captain Ben Stokes ‘Sorry’ After Cricket Report Exposes Racism And Sexism

England captain Ben Stokes mentioned Tuesday he was “deeply sorry” to be taught of the size of discrimination within the sport after a damning report revealed “widespread” racism, sexism and classism within the recreation. His feedback adopted the publication by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) of its much-anticipated report, “Holding Up a Mirror to Cricket”. The fee, arrange by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), makes 44 suggestions, together with that the board makes an “unqualified public apology” for its failings.

The ICEC was established in 2021 following a racism scandal centered across the remedy of Pakistan-born bowler Azeem Rafiq at Yorkshire.

In a separate growth the ECB mentioned the county membership must be fined 500,000 kilos ($638,000) and given factors deductions over their dealing with of the case.

Of the greater than 4,000 people interviewed for the ICEC report, 50 p.c described experiencing discrimination within the earlier 5 years, with the figures considerably larger for individuals from ethnically various communities.

Women are handled as “subordinate” to males in any respect ranges of cricket, the report discovered, including that they obtain an “embarrassingly small amount” of pay in comparison with their male counterparts.

It recommends that match charges for the lads’s and ladies’s groups be “equalised with immediate effect”.

The ICEC report additionally states that not sufficient has been completed to deal with class boundaries within the recreation, with fee-paying personal colleges dominating the expertise pathway.

‘Unequivocal’

“Our findings are unequivocal,” mentioned ICEC chair Cindy Butts. “Racism, class-based discrimination, elitism and sexism are widespread and deep-rooted.

“The recreation should withstand the truth that it isn’t banter or only a few unhealthy apples. Discrimination is each overt and baked into the buildings and processes inside cricket.”

Stokes and England women’s skipper Heather Knight gave evidence, along with racism whistleblower Rafiq.

Stokes reacted to the publication of the report on the eve of the second Ashes Test against Australia, which starts at Lord’s on Wednesday.

“To the individuals concerned within the recreation who’ve been made to really feel unwelcome or unaccepted up to now, I’m deeply sorry to listen to of your experiences,” he said.

“Cricket is a recreation that should have a good time range on all fronts as a result of with out range this recreation wouldn’t be the place it’s at at present.”

He added: “Everyone has a special story to inform. I’m Ben Stokes, born in New Zealand, a state-educated pupil who dropped out of faculty at 16 with one GCSE (qualification) in PE.

“I need help with the spelling and grammar in this speech and I am currently sitting here as the England men’s Test captain.”

‘Opportunity’

The report praised the ECB for being courageous sufficient to open itself as much as “uncomfortable independent scrutiny”.

ECB chairman Richard Thompson, who took up his put up final 12 months, mentioned the organisation would “use this moment to reset cricket”.

“On behalf of the ECB and wider leadership of the game, I apologise unreservedly to anyone who has ever been excluded from cricket or made to feel like they don’t belong,” he mentioned.

“Cricket should be a game for everyone, and we know that this has not always been the case.

“Powerful conclusions inside the report additionally spotlight that for too lengthy girls and black individuals have been uncared for. We are really sorry for this.”

Rafiq welcomed the findings and acknowledged the “extraordinary work” that had gone into the inquiry.

“There is little question now that the sport all of us love has suffered from institutionalised discrimination, together with racism,” he said.

“This report is a chance to totally mirror on what has occurred and for the game’s governing buildings to work out a means ahead.”

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman said the report “makes for tough studying”.

The ECB’s sanctioning recommendations relating to Yorkshire were made to the independent Cricket Discipline Commission on Tuesday.

Yorkshire admitted four charges in February while six former Yorkshire players were sanctioned by the CDC last month after being found guilty of using racist language.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)