Equality, Diversity & Inclusion: Progress in 2024
Our Vision
We want our communities to say “I feel part of Sussex Cricket.” This vision is central to our Sussex Cricket County Plan and EDI strategy, underpinning our entire culture at Sussex Cricket.
We are committed to inspiring a passion for cricket across ALL our communities, creating inclusion and welcoming environments for people from all walks of life, regardless of their race, sexual orientation, religion or belief, physical or neural ability. We strive to achieve our vision by genuinely listening and responding to what we hear. We believe we have already made progress on and off the field, however we will continue to be better, challenging ourselves and each other to be accountable for our actions and behaviours.
EDI Initiatives in 2024
Sussex Cricket are proud to have launched a number of initiatives in 2024 to further progress our vision to be inspire passion for cricket in all our communities and create inclusion and a welcoming environment from people from all walks of life.
Sensory, Inclusion and Quiet Room
We invested monies received from the ECB towards EDI initiatives that would create ongoing benefit and encourage underrepresented groups to feel welcome at the 1st Central County Ground, Hove and to ensure we have facilities that are accessible to all. These funds allowed us to develop our plans to introduce a sensory/quiet room at the ground in Hove and hidden disability wristbands
Research shows that 15-20% of the UK population is neurodivergent, with thinking and learning styles that differ from what is considered typical. It is with this in mind that we used the ECB EDI funds to create a sensory/quiet room that where spectators and their families can watch and enjoy cricket matches at the 1st Central County Ground in a space that meets their sensory needs. Extensive research took place across cricket, sport generally and neurodiversity charities into what should be included in a sensory room and how these were designed so that we could best understand how we could create as inclusive and welcoming space as possible.
Sensory, Inclusion & Quiet Room:
Mobile Sensory Packs
Spectators also have access to mobile sensory packs, designed for users who do not wish to be confined to the sensory room or wish to be ‘hybrid’ (some time in room and in the stands) . The Sussex Cricket branded mobile sensory packs consist of ear defenders and an assortment of sensory/fidget resources.
Women & Girls
The Women & Girls game has grown significantly over the last 18 years in Sussex, with more females trying and playing cricket, whether that is in school, within the community or at a local cricket club.
Women & Girls Cricket is one of the main pillars in the ECB action plan and like the ECB, in Sussex we want females to say, “Cricket is a game for me”.
Through the work we do at the Sussex Cricket Foundation, we have been able to provide more cricket to women and girls, whether that is soft ball, hard ball, social, fun or competitive cricket, we are able to support any female coming into cricket with an option that suits them.
The Sussex Cricket Foundation have helped support clubs across Sussex to start a Women and/or girls section, with over 65 clubs now with a section and each year this continues to grow.
We provide junior club cricket leagues and competitions for all our clubs to enter at all ages, from U9, U11 and U13 one day soft ball festivals to an U11 and U13 soft ball league, U11, U13, U15 and U17 hard ball leagues. Clubs also have an option to enter the U13, U15 and U19 ECB T20 knockout cups each year.
Through our Women’s soft ball festivals, which are held at a number of cricket clubs across Sussex in the summer, we are able to introduce Women of all ages into cricket whether they have never played before or are coming back into the game after years of not playing. The soft ball festivals are a great way to engage new women into cricket, they are fun, friendly, non- competitive and suit anyone of any age and ability.
We also run a Women’s soft ball league and soft ball super series, to find out more on these head to our Women’s soft ball page.
For clubs who are either new to hard ball or developing their hard ball players, there is the Women’s Sussex Slam which is played on weekday evenings or weekends in 2023 we are launched two new Women’s hard ball leagues, the Sussex Women’s Premier League and Sussex Division 1 League, which are played on Sunday’s. The Sussex premier league is T20 and 40 over cricket and our Sussex Division 1 league is 30 over cricket.
At school level we run two specific girls projects, the Chance to Shine Girls Secondary School Programme, where we work with 13 schools to deliver cricket and leadership sessions. Our second project is the ECB Secondary School Proof of Concept project where we are aiming to work with 30 secondary schools to deliver taster sessions specifically for girls.
During the school year we run a number of competitions and leagues, in the winter we have run some Chance to Compete Indoor tournaments for state schools only and during the months of January – March we run the ECB Indoor National Competition at U13 & U15 for state and Independent schools.
In the summer we will run leagues for state and independent schools at U13 and U15 level, as well as one day Chance to Compete tournaments for state schools, through our chance to shine project.
At primary school age we deliver coaching sessions through our primary school chance to shine project and run summer Dynamos girls’ countdown competitions.
Women's Soft Ball Cricket
Women & Girl's Indoor Leagues
Women & Girls Clubs
Chance to Shine Girls Programme
ECB Secondary Girl's Schools Project
Women’s Cricket
Sussex Cricket is fully committed to the development and progress of the women’s game. After being awarded Tier 2 status the Sussex Women's team will now play under the Sussex Sharks name and will play at Hove nine times in 2025. We are committed to increasing equity and profile within the women’s game at Sussex to inspire a new generation of young female players.
The Sharks will play in three white-ball competitions in 2025: the T20 Vitality Blast League 2, the Metro Bank One Day Cup League 2 and the Vitality T20 Women's County Cup.
They will once again be led by Alexia Walker, who was appointed as the permanent Head Coach back in December having been in the role since 2019.
LGBTQ+ Inclusion
Brighton & Hove have the largest LGBTQ+ population in the UK and Sussex Cricket continue to be committed to increasing inclusion of this community. We have launched an LGBTQ+ strategy to focus on this key area. This has included the introduction of a number of initiatives in 2024, such as:
• Coffee & Cake at the Cricket events at The 1st Central County Ground. The free LGBTQ+ community hub provides people from the local community a chance to sit and socialise in a safe & relaxed environment. Each month special guests come to visit or unique activities are planned for the group.
• Our inaugural Pride match at the Metro Bank One Day Cup against Leicestershire in August 2024.
• LGBTQ+ Awareness training held by Out4Cricket for all players, staff, Stewards, Sussex Cricket Foundation Trustees and Board members.
We will continue to develop and progress with our LGBTQ+ strategy over 2025.
Iftar Event
In March 2024 over 60 members of the local community come together with Sussex staff in the first ever Iftar event at The 1st Central County Ground.
Members of the Muslim community were invited to break their fast in an event for an evening which represented a groundbreaking first for Sussex Cricket. G uests were invited to break their fast, pray and get together to celebrate the Islamic holy month.
The event was also an opportunity for the community to educate members of the Sussex Cricket organisation on the importance of Ramadan and what it means to be a Muslim, as well as an opportunity for people to discuss the potential barriers the community feels prevents them from joining in with the game.
Diwali Event
In October Sussex Cricket hosted the first- ever Diwali celebration evening at The 1st Central County Ground, bringing together a number of people from local Indian communities across Sussex.
Attended by 70 people, the spectacular event was another example of the Club's ongoing work to make The 1st Central County Ground a welcoming venue for all.
Members of the local community were joined by Sussex Cricket staff, as well as various members of the Sussex Cricket Board and Foundation Trustees.
Visitors were treated to a traditional Indian meal, partook in a charity raffle and were entertained by Indian dancers.
Sussex Cricket Foundation Initiatives
• A huge highlight of everyone’s year at Sussex Cricket was welcoming 3000 school children and teachers to our annual School’s Day. The excitement and atmosphere was electric!
• Sussex Cricket’s first ever Disability Cricket weekend, which included playing and winning fixtures at the 1st Central County Ground.
• A record breaking DIScoverABILITY DAY with 750 attendees and 100 volunteers, providing opportunities for people with SEND to enjoy the physical and social benefit of playing cricket.
• State School Cricket continues to be a priority area for the Foundation and for the game nationally. Our partnership with Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA) continues to provide state school children with the opportunity to access high quality cricket provision in a state school setting, but we need to do more. Exciting plans are in place to build on this success, by creating a ‘hub’ model across the County linking to our work at BACA, to provide increased opportunities for state school children to access the game and fulfill their potential.
• A key priority for the Foundation and Sussex Cricket is to continue to grow women & girls game. We have seen great progress in this area, to achieve our ongoing objectives to:
- Increase participation in women’s and girl’s cricket across Sussex
- Support the development of women’s and girls’ cricket clubs
- Provide opportunities for women and girls to play cricket
- Deliver female specific coach development and other support to coaches and volunteers.
There were 206 matches played in the Summer Leagues, an increase of 37% on 2023.
There was an increase of 34% of unique players on 2023 (833 in total)
In the Sussex Slam, there was an increase of 17% players (325 players) and an increase of 25% of teams from 2023.
• Funding from the ECB was utilised to complete a new 4 lane indoor net facility for club and community use in an area where facilities were lacking.
Summary
Sussex Cricket are very proud to have launched a number of initiatives to enhance our offering of services and facilities to people from new, diverse communities and backgrounds. The overwhelmingly positive response to these initiatives is testament to their success in breaking down barriers that have prevented some spectators from visiting and enjoying cricket. We hope that this update demonstrates the commitment and effort undertaken by Sussex Cricket to make our facilities and cricket welcoming and inclusive to people across our county and beyond.