Essex have vowed to move swiftly in issuing sanctions after an independent report found former players were subject to racist abuse and discriminatory treatment.
Katharine Newton KC was commissioned to investigate in 2021 after allegations of discrimination were made by former Essex players Jahid Ahmed, Maurice Chambers and Zoheb Sharif.
A summary report by Newton published by Essex on Friday found that reference to players’ ethnic, racial and religious origins was “entirely normalised and tolerated behaviour” within the club’s dressing room between the mid-1990s until around 2013, under the misguided belief that it was acceptable ‘banter’.
“Those at the receiving end of this treatment were too scared to speak up for fear of damaging their prospects of selection and progression,” Newton said in her report conclusions.
“In any event, there were no effective mechanisms for raising such concerns.”
Newton said one of the players was given the nickname ‘bomber’ following the September 11 terrorist attacks. She also found two of the players were referred to as a “curry muncher” and that the phrase was “commonly used” in the dressing room to describe individuals of South Asian heritage.
The third player was repeatedly subjected to racist treatment by a team-mate, who would taunt him by offering him bananas “in a manner which was unequivocally racist”. Newton found this happened in the dressing room, and on coach journeys back from matches.
The team’s coach “was aware” of this conduct, Newton concluded.
“Immediate action should have been taken against the individual; yet nothing was done to stop the behaviour,” Newton wrote.
“Given his position, the coach would have played an influential role in setting the tone and culture of the team. His failure to stop this behaviour sent a strong message to the squad and staff that this conduct had been condoned.”
Player Three also had a banana thrown at him down a flight of stairs by a player who was on trial at Essex.
Newton said her full report, which has been sent to Essex and also copied to the Cricket Regulator, named “most of the perpetrators”.
Jahid has previously criticised the length of time the report has taken, saying it has been “dragged out” to protect the accused.
Essex chair Anu Mohindru apologised to the victims and pledged the sanctioning process would not be prolonged.
“With regard to our sanction process, we don’t want to drag this out for anybody’s sake. That process has started,” Mohindru told the PA news agency.
One of Newton’s 15 recommendations was that sanctions for discriminatory behaviour must reflect the seriousness of the conduct, and that in determining such sanctions the club must “not be influenced by internal pressures such as the popularity/cricketing ability of the perpetrator”.
Mohindru said he “absolutely” agreed with the recommendation and added: “We have to look at the degrees as well – whether it’s done on a repeated basis, whether it’s a number of incidents, whether you have to take into account the senior level the person was holding at the time, the age of the person at the time, we’re talking 17, 18 years ago, there has to be proportionality to it. It’s not one size fits all.”
Newton’s report also found a lack of understanding of the needs of Muslim players at Essex.
It found too that the club’s former chairman, John Faragher, used racist language during a board meeting in 2017 and that the club failed to properly investigate a complaint about the language used.
The report also found Faragher “interfered in the election process by using intimidation to try and dissuade a candidate from standing for election” to the club’s general committee.
Mohindru said Essex would be “stupid” not to learn the lessons from the Yorkshire racism case, where an initial failure by the club to sanction any individuals led to the England and Wales Cricket Board stripping them of the right to host lucrative international fixtures at Headingley until governance changes were made.
He also said it would be “naive” of Essex to think that the club would avoid sanctions from the ongoing Cricket Regulator investigation into these same allegations.
“I am incredibly sorry (the victims) had to endure those things. It’s inexcusable,” Mohindru said.
“I would like to thank them for their bravery, it’s incredibly appreciated. I have to reiterate that we are not the club that we were. We still have work to do. There are 15 recommendations and we believe we’re at 80 per cent of those.”
Inglis hails 'hard to stop' Stoinis after ruthless knock
Josh Inglis lauded "hard to stop" Marcus Stoinis as Australia signed off their T20I series against Pakistan in style, claiming a whitewash.
The hosts raced to a seven-wicket victory with almost nine overs remaining in Monday's third match.
After Australia's bowlers had limited Pakistan to just 117 runs, Stoinis ensured they signed off their final white-ball assignment in style, with his unbeaten 61 doing the damage.
Only twice has he bettered that knock in T20Is – versus New Zealand in 2021 (78) and against Oman at the World Cup earlier this year (67*).
"It's been a great week. We've had a lot of fun as a group," Inglis said. "It's been really nice.
"When Stoinis is going like that, he is really hard to stop. One of those sixes was probably the biggest I've ever seen!"
Stoinis, who was named player of the match, added: "Nice to score some runs on a beautiful wicket but credit to the bowlers who kept the total down.
"Yeah, I actually told [Haris] Rauf that this is the first time any of us got the better of him! No, he's a brilliant bowler, bowled well this series."
During their white-ball tour, Pakistan won the ODI series, their first time doing so in Australia in 22 years, but got whitewashed in the T20Is.
Despite the heavy loss, captain Agha Salman chose to focus on the positive effect the experience will have on their young players.
"I think in the middle overs, we didn't capitalise on the start," he said. "But lots of positives.
"The way Usman [Khan] batted, the way Jahandad [Khan] bowled. These youngsters will come good.
"It's obviously a big achievement winning the ODI series, but we could have done much better in the T20Is."
Salt century gives England winning start to West Indies T20 series
Phil Salt hit a superb century as England drew first blood in their T20 series against West Indies, with a commanding eight-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval.
Salt's unbeaten 103 off 54 balls was the highlight for the tourists, who successfully chased down their target of 183 with 19 balls to spare.
The West Indies endured a difficult start and were reduced to 18-3 and later 117-8, with Saqib Mahmood (4-34) and Adil Rashid (3-32) doing the damage.
However, the hosts managed 65 runs in the last 5.2 overs to finish at 182-8, with Gukadesh Motie knocking 33 off 14 balls along the way.
Salt kick-started England's chase with 50 off just 25 deliveries taking them to 73-1 after six overs, with Will Jacks (17) dismissed with the final ball of the powerplay.
Jos Buttler's first match after four months out lasted just three minutes, as the skipper was caught by Motie for a golden duck.
However, it proved a false dawn for West Indies, with Salt and Jacob Bethall (58 from 36 balls) safely steering England to victory.
Data Debrief: Salt completes hat-trick of hundreds as Bethell makes historic half-century
England put their disappointing ODI series behind them, making history with the highest T20 chase at the Kensington Oval.
Salt was the hero with his third T20I century, all of which have come against West Indies in the past 12 months.
Bethell also made history on Saturday. Aged 21 years and 17 days, he become the youngest England player to score a 50 in a T20I.
Asalanka leads Sri Lanka to ODI series win over West Indies
Sri Lanka wrapped up the ODI series against the West Indies with a five-wicket victory in Pallekele.
The hosts successfully chased down their opponents' total of 189, giving them an unassailable 2-0 in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka controlled the early powerplay - Asitha Fernando (3-35) and Maheesh Theekshana (3-25) took two wickets apiece to leave the tourists at 31-4 in the ninth over.
Wanindu Hasaranga (4-40) then claimed three of his four wickets as Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh and Alzarri Joseph were all dismissed in the space of 14 balls.
However, Sherfane Rutherford (80 off 82 balls) and Gudakesh Motie (50 not out) steadied the ship to take the Windies from 58-8 to 189.
Although Joseph claimed Avishka Fernando (9) in the fourth over, Nishan Madushka and Sadeera Samarawickrama both chipped in with contributions of 38 to get the hosts to 112-4.
Skipper Charith Asalanka (62 not out) led the charge thereon, while Kamindu Mendis (11) comfortably got them over the line with 34 balls remaining.
Data Debrief: Rutherford-Motie historic stand proves academic for tourists
West Indies were looking to level the series, but their hopes were not aided by Sri Lanka's impressive bowling.
Rutherford and Motie did their best. Their partnership brought 119 runs, which is their nation's highest ninth-wicket stand in ODI history, breaking the previous record of 85 between Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph.
However, it ultimately proved in vain as the hosts secured the series with a game to spare.
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