The Teesra

Category: inclusion

  • Does anyone speak up for the coaches?

    Does anyone speak up for the coaches?

    I don’t think it would be unfair to suggest that ECB Coach Development (the group within the England & Wales Cricket Board with responsibility for developing coaches, at all levels of the game, from grassroots to the professional game) has lacked a little direction recently. An interim Head for two years, then a vacant post for another year, and most recently an appointment who, 12 months in, has yet to be introduced to the coaches he is tasked with developing.

    There have been a couple of revealing “coach development” news snippets, recently, revealing in that neither said anything at all about developing cricket coaching (or coaches) beyond the professional game or the private schools in England & Wales.

    Nor about addressing the genuine issues of inclusion raised by ICEC, nor the ongoing (apparent) failures of coaching (at all levels of the development pathway) in England (& Wales) to develop players ready for the international stage.

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  • Belonging — at the very heart of “inclusion” and “diversity”, surely?

    Cricket in England* is facing an existential crisis of a series of racism scandals and widespread criticism for the lack of diversity across the game.

    There has been a lot wrong with the game, but hopefully some good will come out of the reviews and Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives.

    But there surely needs to be more to EDI than statements of intent, and training, and disciplinary sanctions. A former coaching colleague, Ollie Rae, made what I thought was a very perceptive observation.

    You can not have inclusion and diversity without people feeling like they belong.

    https://twitter.com/ollierae14/status/1504752485218590722?s=21&t=CHGvpdo14rHnC4Rmsauqow

    What does “belonging” mean? What could a cricket club (the wider game) do to encourage those “outside cricket” to come inside?

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