Our first thoughts today are with the people Michael Strange has harmed. Your courage and bravery in coming forward to bring Strange to justice for his appalling crimes is extraordinary. We are truly sorry this happened to you within our sport, and we remain committed to doing everything possible to ensure it never happens again.
We undertook this external safeguarding review because, once we learned of the extent of Strange’s offending during the 1990s and early 2000s through subsequent police investigations, we wanted to identify any lessons that could help us make cricket safer still today.
We are grateful to Ray Galloway for conducting the review, and to all those within cricket and beyond who have participated in it – particularly those victims who felt able to do so - to enable it to be as comprehensive as possible. Our focus in conducting a review such as this was to understand how these behaviours occurred, learn lessons and minimise future risk. We are grateful for the openness with which people have contributed.
We are now publishing this review as the entire cricket community across England and Wales has a collective responsibility to be aware of these concerns, to understand how Strange was able to evade discovery for so long before he was suspended from cricket in 2005 when the first allegations were made to police. It is also an opportunity to consider everyone’s personal responsibility in developing and shaping a culture that keeps people safe and to share the continuous proactive work being delivered.
The review highlights the importance of recognising concerning behaviour, and acting upon it. It recognises that Strange’s offending took place at a time when awareness of safeguarding risks was much less developed, both in society and in organisations. Safeguarding practice today is far stronger, but we will never rest and must never be complacent. We will continue to work to embed best safeguarding practice throughout cricket. The review’s findings and recommendations will inform our continuing work.
Action already taken in recent years includes:
- The ECB has expanded the Safeguarding Team within the Cricket Regulator, supported by annual audits through the NSPCC’s Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) through a yearly audit. Safeguarding Advisors work closely with the game through quality assurance checks and regular visits supporting our vision of moving from simple compliance to positive culture.
- A funded learning and development programme now supports safeguarding leads at every level. County Safeguarding Officers complete a six-module course accredited by Sport England. This programme is offered in addition to mandatory safeguarding training requirements.
- This network is supported by a network of Club Safeguarding Officers, each of whom are required to undertake mandatory bespoke in-person training for their role.
- Each County Safeguarding Officer and organisation is supported by a Board Safeguarding Lead, whose role it is to provide leadership and oversight to the Executive, and to ensure safeguarding is embedded across their organisations. To support this requirement, all Board members are required to attend external in-person safeguarding training every 3 years.
- There has been a significant focus on educating people around what behaviour should give cause for concern. By identifying and reporting low-level concerns, action can be taken before it is too late.
Other than the ECB, no other cricket organisations are named in the review, as we are mindful of the victims, both known and unknown. The focus of the review should rightly be on the behaviour of Michael Strange, and the findings and recommendations so the whole game can learn.
We recognise that this is an important moment for people with lived experience of abuse in cricket to be heard and to share their stories safely. We also know we must do better to engage with and support them.
To this end, over the past year, the Cricket Regulator has been working with an independent safeguarding organisation to review how cricket engages with survivors, drawing on good practice across sport and other sectors. We have listened to people who have been harmed in cricket to understand what support they need and how their insight can help protect others in future. Building on this work we have created an advisory group to work alongside the ECB and the Cricket Regulator on specific projects, so that the voices of those who have experienced abuse are central to shaping our policies and culture.
The ECB and Cricket Regulator welcome the report’s recommendations, and a number have already been acted upon or are being put into action now. Clear processes are in place for information sharing around individuals who are suspended from cricket, and we will ensure these processes are communicated and understood throughout the game. We will be formalising processes around engaging with alleged victims of abuse when allegations come to light. We monitor compliance with safeguarding standards closely and will ensure County Organisations and clubs review their process if a concern is raised. We have also written to the National Police Chiefs Council to discuss protocols for informing the ECB when police services are investigating allegations of crime relating to a cricket environment.
As part of wider work to develop our digital systems across both the professional and recreational game, we will look at how best we further develop the picture we have of an individual’s involvement with the game.
This report shines a spotlight on a horrific case in our sport. We are determined to learn from it, so we can further strengthen the safeguards we have in place to protect people today.
The safeguarding case review is available to read in full here.