Only systemic changes can really address the issue of racism in English cricket, say Ebony Rainford-Brent and Raj Tulsiani

lack of diversity in the game. Raj Tulsiani, Chief Executive Officer of Green Park who wrote 'Diversity and Inclusion for Leaders', believes cricket needs to undergo systematic changes at all levels to embrace local communities if it wants to be anti-racist.

On a special edition of the Sky Sports podcast Tulsiana was joined by former England men's allrounder Phillip DeFreitas, former Gloucestershire men's captain and coach Mark Alleyne, and broadcaster and current director of women's cricket at Surrey Ebony Rainford-Brent on the panel, chaired by host Mark Butcher. The quintet discussed the issues of racism and diversity in English cricket.

"From a personal perspective I think we have come a long way from somebody in the dressing room saying 'we have brought an extra bar of soap for you this week' or, when we are playing Caribbean and Commonwealth, saying 'you are in the wrong dressing room'," Tulsiani said. "We have in many ways moved forward from that type of racism; what we face now is more institutional prejudice and that can only be dealt with by a systematic mechanism.”

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"When you look at any system, as we do with all different types of organisations, you look at leadership, administration and grassroots. So not having black coaches, or coaches whose lived experience is relevant to the communities that we're trying to engage with, takes any heat out of the system.”

"Forget about how much bias there may be higher up in the system; at the grassroots level, clubs have an extremely important part to play and they are not being held accountable whether that is on women's cricket or reaching out into local communities.”

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) recently talked about the need to change things for the better and acknowledged the voices against racism in cricket.

“We have listened carefully to those who have spoken out in recent weeks about their experiences of being black in cricket, sport and society,” said the ECB in a press release on June 12.

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Rainford-Brent, who recently launched Surrey's scholarship program to increase participation among the local black community, says change has to come from the top of the game. "So first of all, if you have got nobody at the top table - and I know from my experience at Surrey that we are able to have this ACE agenda at the top table conversation that fed through the organisation because there was someone asking those questions,” she said.

"If that is not happening at the ECB level and it is not happening in the power room then you are going to see the reflection of less than one per cent participation at grassroots, which is what we're seeing. I don't know how or where they are going to start recruiting but I think they've got to get that in order.”

The first black woman to represent England, Rainford-Brent believes children from Caribbean and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds need a nationwide pathway and work needs to be done reconnect with the grassroots. "It's not hard. Look at how the women's game has grown because of the investment that was put into it. This is the same in the sense that you take targeted markets, you understand their needs and you go and service your communities.”

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"This is the crux of it. Cricket doesn't service the communities. It services the original communities it was intended for. You think about cricket as game set up in the empire, at private schools, for the elite. That is what our game is still servicing, unfortunately, and that is what we're seeing as a predominant coming through. It is progressing, but now we need to really break that down and get into the heart of the game.”

Tulsiani, while agreeing to Rainford-Brent’s view, said he believes cricket needs systematic changes in its ambition and investment rather than just well-meaning programs to address the issue of racism.  "I agree with much of that in terms of tactical but it does nothing to address what I think the principle issue here is - that is making cricket anti-racist.”

"As we have seen with lots of organisations, you can build more representation in the lower ends of your organisation or sport but unless that proportionally travels through administration and leadership.”

“I could put an ethnic minority on every county board in six months but unless they have got a mandate for inclusion, unless there is governance and measurement around inclusion, and constant training, then really what you are doing is you are not addressing the real issue which is, we are not getting treated the same. For me that's a systemic issue that requires a systemic solution. I hope cricket has the appetite,” he concluded.