WSA Sports Industry Awards 2023 Winner Feature: Cricket Wales & Glamorgan Cricket EDI Plan for cricket in Wales
In March 2022, Cricket Wales and Glamorgan Cricket launched a first ever integrated EDI Plan for the sport in Wales. Just over a year later, the initiative was awarded Best Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative at the Welsh Sports Association (WSA) Sports Industry Awards 2023.
In the year leading up the inaugural event last June, ethnic minority membership had grown by 13% in seniors and 11% in juniors, while female participation had increased by 55% among girls and 42% among women in the two years previous.
It’s no surprise that EDI takes such a prominent role in the organisations’ ambitions and operations.
Speaking to the WSA, interim CEO of Cricket Wales Mark Frost explained why it’s so vital.
“What’s important for us is that we quite genuinely have done nothing for the sake of it,” he told us. “This is an authentic approach across all our staff.
“Cricket’s a unique sport where you get involved in a club, and you’ll be connected with such a broad range of people, for example coaching a group of five-year-olds in one moment or paying with older veterans in their 70s, men and women, and a range of different cultural backgrounds.
“You just meet people you wouldn’t normally meet, and that’s one of the sport’s real positives.”
A whole host of initiatives kick-started by the EDI Plan are testament to their commitment to progressing equity in cricket.
Delivery initiatives such as the Ramadan midnight Tapeball League, Ramadan Iftar for women, Chance to Shine Street Hubs, Wicketz community hubs, Disability Cricket, LGBTQ+ workshops for clubs, inclusive stadium accommodation needs and supporting female-friendly facilities & menstrual hygiene needs in club cricket demonstrate why wide-ranging-participation has increased so much.
And, as such, Cricket Wales and Glamorgan Cricket were awarded Best Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative at last year’s WSA Sports Industry Awards.
“Everyone often says in these situation ‘I’m absolutely delighted’, but we absolutely were,” Mark stated.
“That night was the WSA’s first ever Awards ceremony, so to be applauded by your peers and to get that industry recognition on such an occasion was amazing.
“But secondly, in such a challenging year for cricket as a whole (with the ICEC Report in June 2023), to get that award was particularly pleasing, and that was echoed in September when Glamorgan won the EDI Award at the ECB Business of Cricket Awards a couple months later, too!”
The plaque awarded to them had proudly sat on the foyer wall at Sophia Gardens but, piling up the awards, Mark assured the WSA that there would be a trophy cabinet built in the near future.
And it won’t be a bad idea, given that EDI remains at the forefront of cricket’s future in Wales.
“We’ve had an EDI action plan for over ten years which has evolved over that time but, importantly, over the last couple of years we’ve had significant prompts to make that even more front and centre in what we’re doing,” Mark explained.
“One was the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket Report (ICEC), which challenged the whole game around sexism, racism, and elitism, and that has very much shaped our approach in terms of urgency and sharpening up our work.
“It’s been particularly about making things more equitable as we look to develop talented cricketers, taking away issues such as cost, but also accelerating attempts to put the women’s and girls’ game on a similar platform, both participation-wise and talent pathway-wise.”
This has been a particular area of success for Cricket Wales since receiving their WSA Sports Industry Award, with around a third of clubs in Wales boasting a girls’ section and half boasting a female section. Since 2018, these figures have grown 174% and 600% respectively.
“We’re getting to a point where most cricket clubs will have some sort of female offer,” confirmed Mark.
Alongside the ECB, Cricket Wales is also reforming its strategy.
“EDI is going to become even more prominent and embedded in the new 2025 Strategy, in terms of high priorities and the themes of the future of the game, EDI will absolutely be front and centre.
“Both Glamorgan Cricket and Cricket Wales have an EDI sub-committee, which is a formal part of both boards’ structures, which offers a lot of accountability.”
And the door-opening grassroots work continues to have a large impact on participation across Wales, with new initiatives being rolled out to further enhance the prominence of EDI in the sport.
“In the last two months, we’ve launched an education programme with all cricket clubs, whether they are currently diverse in their local communities or not eg those that may not have female sections or are in communities that are not so ethnically diverse. We’ve started that engagement to make sure our clubs know what discrimination means, what to do if you come across it and, most importantly, how to make your club a welcoming environment for everyone to enjoy.”
Find a detailed report on Cricket Wales’ EDI progress here.
And don’t forget to shout about the event using #WSASIA2024 on socials!
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