Racism in cricket: England and Wales Cricket Board investigated 208 cases of discrimination in 2021

The ECB has made 12 commitments to promote equality, diversity and inclusion, and published updates on its progress.

< p class="" data-reactid=".2bjqqozlyh2.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-5">He said a new system for handling discrimination complaints had "taken more longer than expected".

Yet he said 208 complaints were received last year, all of which have been investigated.

There have been 36 separate cases - some involving multiple allegations - in cricket recreational referred for further investigation. Of these, 12 are still under investigation while 24 have been concluded.

They involved 65 allegations of discrimination, 14 of which were substantiated during the investigation process - 47 were unsubstantiated and six withdrawn or undetermined.

The figures come after the ECB pledged to adopt a "one-size-fits-all approach" to whistleblowing in cricket and the creation of a "better culture of reporting and handling complaints" which will be managed by a new anti-discrimination unit.

The ECB said the "full delivery" of the unit "took longer than expected ", but a designated director has been appointed and "the implementation plan is being finalized".

"The ECB expects the first phase of the implementation plan to be operational by the end of December 2022, followed by phase two by spring 2023," he said.

There is another DCMS session on racism in cricket in front of MPs on Tuesday.

Last month the Disciplinary proceedings regarding charges against Yorkshire and seven people have been postponed until next year.

The ECB is also committed to continuing anti-discrimination training and approximately 4,500 people have completed the training in 2022, 97% of whom are ECB employees.

Locker room culture has been revised for 30 teams in the men's and women's categories national games, as well as the England women's, England men's white ball and handicap teams. The final session will take place with the England men's team ballon rouge before the end of 2022.

The percentage of ethnically diverse boys and girls in youth academies has increased, as has ethnic diversity on club boards (from 5% to 17%), while female representation in councils has tripled (11% to 33%).

Female cricket on the rise clubs offering women and girls the opportunity to play has increased by 12% since 2019 (to 1,050 in total), while the number of female and female teams increased by 75% (3,586).

Since 2019 There was a 54% increase in the number of people attending women's fixtures in England and the number of female ticket buyers for the Hundred rose from 21% to 28%.

Elsewhere, free cricket is played at a further 300 schools in low socio-economic areas, along with a further 200 specialist schools, while 104 clubs regularly offer disabled cricket, up from 36 in 2020.

One ​​of the ECB programs aimed at increasing ethnic diversity in cricket is called Dream Big, which is co-funded by Sport England and has seen 2,109 South Asian women volunteer as role models at grassroots level, while 33% of ECB coaching course participants have come from diverse ethnic backgrounds. /p>