Welcome from Kate Miller

Welcome to our latest edition of the Raising The Game Bulletin.

Last week we marked World Kindness Day, a perfect opportunity to inspire goodwill and generosity throughout the network. It also reminded me how much kindness shines through our work across the game.

Everything you do – whether it’s prioritising inclusion in the talent pathway at Kent Cricket, gaining disability accreditation at Warwickshire or strengthening global partnerships in Surrey – exemplifies kindness and reflects our shared ambition to make cricket a sport for everyone.

It’s also a theme that underpins cricket’s core values, which we launched at the Business of Cricket Awards (BOCAs) last week in Edgbaston. These values will help to guide and shape our work, as we strive to become the most inclusive team sport in England and Wales.

This month we were delighted to publish the Taste of Cricket cookbook, which has come together after months of hard work and wonderful input from across the game. Thank you to all those who contributed recipes and the clubs who hosted events over the summer. Outside of the mouthwatering selection of dishes, the cookbook celebrates diversity across the game, highlighting the power of the humble cricket tea in bringing different communities together. You can find out more details on how to purchase a copy below, with all proceeds going to cricket charities.

Again, in the spirit of being kind, why not try making one of the recipes for your friends or family? My personal favourites are Isa Guha’s Bengali-style Prawn Curry and Stephen Fry’s Maple and Cinnamon Buns.

Looking ahead, we’ll be marking Disability History Month with a Game Live event on Tuesday 3 December, with the relaunch of the Cricketability Employee Network. We hope to see you there.

Thank you for all you do to drive inclusion and kindness within cricket. Together, we’re truly Raising The Game.

With best wishes,

Kate Miller

Chief Communications Officer

RECENT NEWS AND UPDATES

Taste of Cricket, a new cookbook celebrating diversity in the game, has launched

Get ready to sample the Taste of Cricket! After much anticipation, we can unveil the cookbook Taste of Cricket — a mouthwatering celebration of diversity in the game brought to life through the universal language of food.

This new cookbook is as much about cricket as it is a flavourful celebration of community, heritage and shared traditions. It represents the huge breadth of cuisines that cricket teas encompass, reflecting the diverse cultures seen across the game, ranging from Sri Lankan and Caribbean to Welsh, Afghani, Pakistani and beyond.

Talking about the cookbook, Ainsley Harriott, celebrity chef said: “This cookbook has so much variety; taking you on a journey through time and across the globe – covering the cherished, tried-and-tested recipes from some cricket and foodie VIPs as well as community chefs. Having worked at Lord’s Long Room, I discovered the beauty of cricket lies in its all-day nature. The game starts at 11am, allowing time for breakfast, lunch, tea breaks and maybe even a drink afterwards. I hope you'll agree that my Jamaican Beef Patties are perfect for a match tea - they remind me of my childhood and are a must-have when watching the historic rivalry between England and the West Indies.”

You can watch this video to see one of the recipes from the book being cooked live just off the pitch at Shepherds Bush CC. In this hilarious VT, England Men’s player Chris Jordan, celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott and England Visually Impaired team captain Ed Hossell barbeque a Jerk Chicken Caribbean feast.

Visit this page and scroll down to the end for details on how to purchase the cookbook. Every copy helps make cricket more accessible, with profits supporting five charity partners: Chance to Shine, ACE (African Caribbean Engagement Programme), Lord’s Taverners, The MCC Foundation and SACA (South Asian Cricket Academy).

The 2024 Business of Cricket Awards (BOCAS) celebrate success across the professional game

The annual Business of Cricket Awards (BOCAs) were held last week (Thursday 14 November) at a ceremony at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Every year, the awards celebrate innovation and best practice across the professional game, rewarding the work that First Class Counties and Marylebone Cricket Club do to grow the game.

Congratulations to Surrey County Cricket Club for winning the Raising The Game EDI Initiative Award. Surrey’s Academic Cricket Scholars (SACS) programme focuses on breaking down barriers for state school children, offering every student no matter their gender, race or socio-economic background open access to every role and opportunity available to them.

Click here to read more about the awards.

Black History Month and Beyond: Celebrating Cricket’s Changemakers

Creating change at the grassroots: Harwood Williams

Continuing our ‘Celebrating Changemakers’ series for Black History Month and Beyond, today we're spotlighting a key member of the grassroots Caribbean cricket community in the UK. A former player for the Leeward Islands, Harwood Williams is driven by a desire to provide opportunities to future generations. Having made the UK his home for over 30 years, he has contributed heavily to club cricket in Yorkshire including at the Leeds Caribbean Cricket Club where he is Chair. Read his story here.

Portrait unveiling at Lord’s celebrates life and work of pioneering changemaker Guy Bailey

A portrait painted by artist Helen Wilson Roe of Dr Guy Bailey OBE, the civil rights activist and pioneer of Caribbean cricket in the UK, was unveiled in the MCC Museum at Lord’s, to coincide with Black History Month. The ceremony was attended by Bailey himself and former England bowler Devon Malcolm, as well as several other invited guests including former players Mark Alleyne and Norman Cowans and Anita Neil, the first female Black athlete to represent Great Britain in the Olympics. Read more here.

Visually Impaired Ashes are underway!

England Men’s Visually Impaired team are taking on Australia in one of the world’s oldest rivalries, The Ashes! The multi-format series kicked off on Saturday 16 November with their first ODI.

Unfortunately, the team fell 46 runs short of their target in their first match, with Australia VI clinching the win.

The second ODI starts at midnight GMT on Monday 18 November with a live-stream available from Cricket Australia.

Sabah’s story shared in Women & Home magazine

The latest edition of Women & Home magazine includes a feature from Sabah Hamed (Diverse Communities Manager, ECB). From quitting the corporate world to pursue a love of sport, Sabah shares her journey into the world of cricket, including the obstacles she’s overcome along the way.

CRICKET'S CORE VALUES

Cricket’s Core Values have been created by the game for the game to guide how we work, play and make decisions on and off the field. The Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) last year detailed the steps cricket needed to take to become a more inclusive sport. It was a reset moment — and a chance to come together to make cricket the most inclusive team sport in England and Wales. One of the report’s recommendations was to create a set of game-wide values.

Thankyou for the support you have provided this year in helping to create these values. From contributing to and promoting The Big Cricket Conversation survey (which resulted in over 4,500 responses) to welcoming us into clubs across the country – the engagement has been invaluable. Without it, we certainly couldn’t have reached the point where we now have a powerful set of values created for the game, by the game.

It was brilliant to be able to launch the final set of values last week officially. Through cricket’s core values, we will collectively help shape the behaviours and attitudes critical to becoming England and Wales's most inclusive team sport. Everyone in the game has a role to play, and the next 12-18 months will be crucial in ensuring these values are not only known but also understood and acted upon. We will please need your support in living and embodying these values to ensure the game is led by example.

So, what’s next? We have created an interactive toolkit with resources, materials and ideas to help cricket roll out and embed the core values (full suite of assets and resources are hosted on the EDI Content Hub: www.edicontnethub.ecb.co.uk). Please do review the toolkit and take our short quiz to see how cricket’s core values could help you become a more inclusive county, club or organisation.

If you would like to be sent any physical resources displaying the values (e.g. posters, conversation cards, stickers etc) please email raisingthegame@ecb.co.uk – we’d be delighted to arrange.

CURRENT CAMPAIGNS

In a world where you can be anything, be kind

World Kindness Day took place on Wednesday 13 November, an annual event dedicated to promoting and celebrating acts of kindness.

To mark the occasion, we’ve launched a donation drive at the ECB, which will run up to Friday 13 December. The initiative is taking place across all four ECB offices, supporting four local charities in the build up to the festive season:

Lord’s office – Camden Food Bank

Edgbaston office – Sparkhill Food Bank

Loughborough office – Burton Soup Kitchen

Emirates Old Trafford – Emmeline’s Pantry

We’d encourage clubs, counties and other partners from across the game to get involved. Scan the below QR code to find your nearest food bank and kick off your donation drive.

AROUND THE GROUNDS

Yorkshire Cricket Board addresses inequalities around ground access

The Yorkshire Cricket Board (YCB) has launched a new fund which will help to tackle inequalities around access to grounds for ‘nomadic teams’ in the region. With backing from the ECB, a bursary will go to each team who don’t have their own ground, and in addition teams will also be able to access safeguarding, first aid training and YCB affiliation.

Surrey CCC partners with Cricket Brazil to open high-performance centre

Surrey CCC’s ongoing partnership with Cricket Brasil has reached a new level with the recent opening of the brand-new high-performance centre in Poços de Caldas. The partnership will see the Oval Cricket Relief Trust give three annual grants of £20,000 to Cricket Brasil, supporting the development of participation and performance cricket in the South American country.      

Kent CCC prioritises inclusion in its 2025 talent pathway programme

With Kent Cricket’s Men’s Talent Pathway programme launching for 2025 this past weekend, Kent Cricket was proud to be the first county to hold the ECB sponsored ‘Parents & Counties Pilot programme’, supported by the National Asian Cricket Council (NACC), the Professional Cricketers Association (PCA) and the ACE programme. The programme gives pathway players and parents a clear understanding of their role in ensuring cricket the most inclusive team sport in England and Wales.

Warwickshire CCC becomes Disability Confident employer

Warwickshire has become one of the first cricket clubs in the country to gain accreditation to the national Disability Confident employer scheme. The programme encourages employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people. As part of the accreditation, the club has pledged to offer a job interview to any disabled applicant who meets the essential criteria for a role.

EDI CONTENT HUB

Sharing resources this Transgender Awareness Week

It’s currently Transgender Awareness Week, a moment to improve understanding and raise awareness about the issues members of the transgender community face.

In this video series on the EDI Content Hub, Hen Cowen (Senior Communications Manager, ECB) discuss their experience of coming out as a trans non binary person.

Harris Eddie Hill, an LGBTQ+ entrepreneur, podcaster and author also explains why representation is so important in the workplace. You can watch their video here.

More resources and educational materials are available on the EDI Content Hub. Please click the ‘Gender ID and Sexual Orientation’ button on the main homepage.

Spotlighting wellbeing initiatives this International Men's Day

Some colleagues at the ECB have set up a Men’s Wellbeing Group – to learn about this group and how you could set a similar group up within your organisation, take a look at this video Q&A.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

EDI Calendar

Download our full 2024 EDI Calendar, giving you all the dates of key events throughout the year.

A reminder of key events happening in December: Disability History Month (16 November – 16 December), International Volunteer Day (5 December), Hanukkah (25 December – 2 January), Christmas Day (25 December).

UPDATES FROM OUR EMPLOYEE NETWORKS

Disability History Month Game Live

Tuesday 3 December | 11:00 – 12:00

Join us for a virtual session marking Disability History Month and International Day of Disabled People, hosted by the ECB and the Cricketability Employee Network Group.

Through conversations with people across the game, we’ll explore how clubs, volunteers, employees and England players are making cricket a more inclusive space for everyone.

Join us for an opportunity to learn about the Cricketability Employee Network, including ways to get involved, and receive step-by-step guidance on how to deliver cricket opportunities for those with disabilities at your clubs.

The Game Live will be streamed via LinkedIn and YouTube, with viewers having the opportunity to submit questions to speakers during the session. Click here to join.

If you have any questions, please contact: raisingthegame@ecb.co.uk

BEYOND THE BOUNDARY: EDI PROGRESS FROM OUTSIDE CRICKET 

Age UK asks: Why do we look after old antiques better than we do older people?

Age UK today unveils “Let’s Change How We Age,” a bold campaign aiming to spark national dialogue on ageing. The campaign urges a re-evaluation of how society values older people in a rapidly ageing society. Age UK's mission is clear: as the older population becomes more diverse and faces growing inequalities, society must evolve to ensure that older people can live fulfilling lives. The campaign seeks to enlist public support in preparing for the challenges of ageing, not just for today's older generation but also those in future.

Metro supports food distribution charities via gingerbread-scented newspapers

50,000 copies of festive-smelling Metro newspapers were hand distributed in cities across England and Scotland on 13 November. Bringing its campaign to life in stores, Tesco says it has pledged to donate 10p from every sale of gingerbread items this Christmas to food distribution charities, Trussell Trust and FareShare to help fight food poverty.

Brands and organisations celebrate International Men’s Day

Loose Women confirmed a major shake-up for the show this week where the regular female panellists will be replaced with an all-male lineup. The change comes in celebration of International Men's Day on Tuesday 19 November.

HOW ARE YOU MAKING THE GAME MORE INCLUSIVE? 

We hope you’ve enjoyed this edition of the Raising The Game Bulletin.

We’d love to profile the work you’re doing to make the game more inclusive and to embody cricket’s values:

• Run on Respect
• Embrace Enjoyment
• Build Belonging
• Progress with Purpose

However big or small the project or initiative might be, we’d like to hear about it. It could be anything from lending a helping hand to someone in need at your club, sharing the story of a brilliant volunteer or hosting a community gathering. If you’d like us to spotlight your club or members via our Raising The Game channels, please email the ECB EDI and Communications Team.