Controversial

[chunkyshanhawk53]

Sorry, don't know. There was a study by Leeds Beckett Uni last year, tried googling it but no luck.

No worries. Google tells me that 21 black players have played for England, including 2 for the women’s team

Quite a lot were foreign born. I think 7 of the 19 men were British born (Lawrence, Butcher, Carberry, Tudor, Headley, Mills, Alleyne)

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nb: I clearly don’t have a problem with the others that were born overseas, borderline worrying and that, it just seems a shockingly small number

 

[TravellingMackem]

Assuming you mean Archer and Jordan, Archer didn’t come through the system. And Jordan is debatable

Very very few have actually come through the system. Carberry is one of the few. The others tend to have been overseas born

Some more Asian players have come through, Rashid and Moeen for example, but it’s still pretty rare given the population (especially from communities that tend to have cricket links)

Rashid and Mo were the ones I had in mind. But Jordan and archer too. That’s 4 from around 25 players in and around the England bubble. Over-represented compared to the societal demographic of the U.K. if anything

 

[NorthCountryBoy]

With the black players I think it’s probably a socio economic thing too.

How many players from say the worst quarter of state schools have contracts in the county game? Not many I bet.

 

[Paddy O'Dors]

Assuming you mean Archer and Jordan, Archer didn’t come through the system. And Jordan is debatable

Very very few have actually come through the system. Carberry is one of the few. The others tend to have been overseas born

Some more Asian players have come through, Rashid and Moeen for example, but it’s still pretty rare given the population (especially from communities that tend to have cricket links)

Given the Oval's proximity to the largest Afro-Caribbean community in the UK I'm surprised more black people haven't been brought through their ranks tbh.

 

[smoker]

With the black players I think it’s probably a socio economic thing too.

How many players from say the worst quarter of state schools have contracts in the county game? Not many I bet.

Good point. I was a support officer when they drew up the P.E. National Curriculum years ago, and cricket would often crop up in discussions about compulsory team sport. State school teachers had a very dim view of the sport as it is expensive in terms of equipment and coaching and they felt there was too much sitting around which led to disengagement and class control issues. Iirc Greavsie has some direct experience of this.

The issue for black kids, however, is compounded by lack of role models. Years ago, the county championship was full of great West Indies players, in addition to the odd black English player, but the sport has since nosedived in the Carribbean. Its good to see Brathwaite, Rawlins, DBD and Jordan in the Hundred but that's only four players out of over 100 (Russell and Pollard dropped out due to injury and international commitments but weren't replaced with black players).

Given the Oval's proximity to the largest Afro-Caribbean community in the UK I'm surprised more black people haven't been brought through their ranks tbh.

Surrey draw all their young talent from public schools. The only black south London kid playing county cricket is DBD at Kent and even he benefitted from cricket scholarships at Dulwich and Millfield.