Former England captain and well-known cricket commentator Michael Atherton believes that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) should ensure cricket for all communities in Britain, saying the lack of black players in the English county cricket is “clearly not good enough”.
His comments came after a study by Leeds Beckett University this year revealed that there were only nine black players competing in county cricket last season, down from 33 in 1995, as the former captain called for the lack of Black players in the county game to be addressed.
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While at the international level, only three black players have made their England debut since 2000 with the most recent being Jofra Archer and Atherton feels the ECB “maybe taken their eye off the Black community”, saying cricket should be for all to have the maximum talent pool for the highest level.
Atherton said on the “Cricket, on the Inside” webinar in conjunction with the Lord’s Taverners and Black Opal: “When I started playing in the early 90s the ration was about one in 12 or one in 15. Now you can count them on the fingers of two hands, maybe six or seven.”
He explained, “It’s a complex issue to explain and there are all kinds of reasons impacting upon it. The bottom line is that’s it’s not good enough when you think of the amount of talent that’s lost. I think the ECB has focussed on the south Asian project and maybe taken their eye off the Black community.”
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Atherton further added, “As a game, you want to spread the net as far and wide as you can and select from the maximum talent pool. You don’t want it to be a closed game, for the public schools, you want it to be a game for all communities, right across the spectrum. At the moment, the ECB would admit that that net is focussed too narrowly.”
Meanwhile, another former England cricketer Gladstone Small, who played 17 Tests for England, also agreed with Atherton regarding the situation about Black cricketers in England.
Small further added, “I’m sure the people at the ECB are doing all the schemes for the youngsters to get them involved, with the Lord’s Taverners in the inner-city communities. There is lots being done but lots more that needs to be done.”
Noteworthy, the English cricket management is also suffering from a similar problem with only two of the 118 managers or coaches employed being Black last season.
(With Reuters Inputs)
