James Anderson, England's highest Test wicket-taker, joined the fight against racism, saying cricket authorities in the UK need to ensure "the game is for everyone".
Anderson's comments came following a research done by ESPNcricinfo that there is currently only one state-educated black player in English county cricket.
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"That's just not OK," he told reporters. "So I think again as a game we need to actively make this game for everyone. It can't keep going the way it is."
Worldwide protests are going on against racism after the killing on May 25 of an Afro-American, George Floyd, by a white policeman who kneeled on his neck in custody. Many have taken strength from people's resolve to stand up for the right by opening on racism faced during their lives, including sportspersons across the globe.
Anderson's own teammate, Jofra Archer, was only last November abused racially by a fan in the crowd during one of the Test matches in New Zealand.
"It's been a very thought-provoking few weeks for everyone. It's made me do a lot of thinking."
"I wasn't there in New Zealand when Jofra was racially abused. It made me think and it made me think 'have I turned a blind eye to things?'," said Anderson, who was injured at the time.
"I'd try to support my team-mates if they did suffer any sort of abuse but have I been active in supporting them on things like that?"
Anderson, meanwhile, is also looking forward to cricket's resumption from July 8 via the bio-secure home Test series against West Indies after a lengthy hiatus due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Back at training, the 37-year-old revealed it was "very strange" to be inactive and confined to the four walls of his home amid the lockdown.
"There have been nice parts of it (though)," he said. "I've been able to spend more time with my kids. I've found out that I'm not a very good teacher."
Anderson, who has missed a lot of cricket in the last one year - first having his summer Ashes end on Day 1 itself via an aggravated calf niggle and then injuring his rib mid-way through the winter tour of South Africa - insisted, however, this phase away from the game and the potential cancellation of entire summer this season, didn't make him contemplate retirement.
"It didn't make me think about retirement or anything like that," he said. "It just made me think 'we've got to keep training, you just never know', and stay fit for when that call does come. Strange as it was, all we could do was hope that we would get some cricket."
(Inputs from AFP)
