HarrogateMackem
Striker
I know when I was in school and also my younger brother was playing that if you didn't play for Harrogate CC you weren't getting in the North Yorkshire team, and almost all of their players went to the private schools. We had a few lads in our school who were decent enough cricketers but didn't get a chance because they played for Ripon, Hampsthwaite etc.There was an interesting discussion on the radio earlier about classism in cricket. Many comments about players being picked due to their backgrounds and education.
That's maybe the case but, growing up, I can remember going to headingley and there being hundreds of pissed up folk on the western terrace singing football songs and even fighting at times....far from an upper class spectator sport.
I mean the facts don't lie as well. 462 men’s county cricketers in 2020, 152 went to fee-paying schools and 184 to non-fee paying - with 126 educated overseas. In other words, 45% of the men being employed to play county cricket who were educated in this country come from a private school background. While only 7% of the population attend independent schools.
I think the question is how do we change that, and ethnic minority communities in the UK are working class and very few go to private schools, so by definition making the game more inclusive on a class level will also make it more racially inclusive.