Essex has been condemned by the cricket regulator of failing to address alleged “systemic” racist language and behaviour at the club.
The county has been condemned of breaching Cricket Council of England and Wales Policy 3.3, which links to “conduct, acts or omissions that may harm the interests of cricket or discredit the game of cricket or a cricketer or a group of cricketers”.
A statement on Monday read: “It is alleged by the cricket regulator that there was a systemic use of racist and/or discriminatory language and/or behaviour in Essex in which Essex has failed to address. An independent panel of the Cricket discipline Commission will hear the matter in due course.”
In their own statement, Essex said that they have cooperated fully with the cricket regulator and will continue to do so and that they intend to “voluntarily” participate in the Cricket Disciplinary Commission, which will hear the matter. The cricket regulator is an independent compliance organisation, separate from the ECB, which was set up last December.
In Essex commissioned an independent report on racist language and behaviour takens by Jahid Ahmed, Zoheb Sharif and Maurice Chambers; the report was produced by Katharine Newton Kc. Essex announced in February that they had sanctioned individuals in connection with Newton’s findings, but did not name them.
Newton’s report, published last December, found that the reference to the ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds of the players in the middle of the mid-1990s and about “completely normalised and tolerated behaviour” in the dressing room culture in Essex, on the false assumption that this was an acceptable “hoax”.
In a statement at the time, Essex said: “Although the individuals are not being appointed to join the anonymised report, Essex CCC takes takens of racism extremely seriously and the measures are an additional commitment to create an inclusive and welcoming club for all.
“Essex CCC has shared the measures with the ECB and reiterates its commitment to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in cricket to prevent such incidents from happening again in the future.”