Racism in cricket: Clare Connor to lead dressing-room review

Clare Connor
Clare Connor played more than 100 times for England, captaining on 79 occasions

As part of a bid to tackle racism and discrimination in cricket, a review will be led by ClareConnor.

Following allegations by Azeem Rafiq and other players, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced an action plan.

The managing director of women's cricket is Connor.

The review will start in February and last through the year.

Rafiq, a former Yorkshire spinner, gave evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee in November.

The term Kevin was once used in the England dressing room to describe non-white people.

The five-point plan published by the ECB included 12 tangible actions and pledges of 25 million dollars over the next five years to fight discrimination.

On Tuesday, the governing body issued an update on each of the 12 actions, with the intention to provide further information about the actions underway across the cricket network.

The 18 first-class counties, the Professional Cricketers Association and external experts will work with former England captain Connor.

The review will look at dressing room culture in elite cricket in England and Wales and make recommendations to address discrimination.

A whistle-blowing system for complaints of discrimination will be established by the end of February. The anti-discrimination unit will be up and running by the end of May.

Work with each of the first-class counties to review crowd behavior is included in the action plan.

In January, the DCMS committee report said the government should limit public funding for cricket unless there is progress in the fight against racism.

Kick It Out will work with the ECB to identify and tackle issues of equality, diversity and inclusion in cricket.

The Kick It Out project will be its first outside football, and the ECB and Sky Sports are putting forward a million dollars to support it.

Cricket has been highlighted over the last year as a sport potentially in need of a new direction when it comes to driving inclusion and equality, according to Kick It Out.

We want to use the expertise we have developed in football to see if there is an opportunity for us to support cricket.

Yorkshire was stripped of the right to host England matches in November due to their handling of the Rafiq allegations.

The club faces a huge financial crisis if the ban is not lifted by this summer, according to the chairman.

The vote on governance changes at Yorkshire's extraordinary general meeting on February 2 would be key in restoring international matches at Headingley, according to the deputy chair of the England and Wales Cricket Board.

The ban on international cricket will remain in place even if the changes are not adopted, according to Darlow.