425

of 1,000 signatures

To The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)

Petition text

To the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC),

Urgent action is required to increase gender equality in the 2021 fixtures schedule (and beyond), ensuring that Lord’s truly is the ‘Home of Cricket’ for all cricketers, regardless of gender. Female cricketers were under-represented prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. These women have been more negatively affected compared to their male counterparts, making it incredibly important for women to be treated more equitably in 2021 and beyond. We realise that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the 2021 cricket season. However, if arrangements can be made for the men’s teams (as they already have been), there should be no reason why the women cannot receive the same treatment.

Women's sport across the world has made enormous gains in recent years and stands at the threshold of a new era of professionalism, respect and equality. The extent of the growth and progress was highlighted by the 2020 International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s World Cup which attracted 1.1 billion video views, with 86,174 fans attending the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (record attendance for a women’s cricket event). The ICC recently announced that more teams than ever before will compete in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup and the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup from 2026 onwards, signalling a clear commitment to growing the women’s game globally.

Despite this progress, women and girls remain severely under-represented across all areas of cricket. Women had to wait for more than 200 years to become members of MCC. The membership base was exclusively male until 1998, and the first non-playing female members only entered the pavilion as full members in September 2018. Today, women represent less than 5of Full MCC members. While a women’s One Day International (ODI) cricket match was held on the main ground in 1976, women had to wait another 11 years to play there again. Moreover, there are still far fewer women’s matches compared to men’s, as highlighted by the 2021 Lord’s fixture schedule (25 matches / 49 days of cricket for men; 7 matches / 6 days of cricket for women).

We acknowledge that the MCC have themselves begun to take positive steps to boost female participation in cricket, particularly noting the work of the MCC Foundation. However, if, as Clare Connor stated at the “Power Play” event (Thursday 29th April 2021), the club really wants to push the boundaries for women and girls, more needs to be done.

We are in the midst of a movement fighting for gender equality. Major international bodies, such as the European Parliament and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) are advocating for gender equality in sport. Having historically excluded women, we believe that the MCC now has a responsibility to join them and be on the frontlines of change.

The fact that Lord’s is widely regarded as the symbolic ‘Home of Cricket’ and yet continues to deny women equal access to the main ground serves as a powerful symbol of exclusion from the sport more broadly. As a historical institution with significant cultural and social significance, the actions of Lord’s are noticed and do matter, making it important for the fixture calendar and the broader organisation to be as inclusive as possible.

We, therefore, call on the MCC to be at the vanguard of the movement for gender equality in cricket by taking the actions outlined below:

1. Increase the number of women’s fixtures played at Lords in 2021 from 7 to 10 (compared to 25 men’s fixtures already scheduled).

2. Continue increasing the number of women’s fixtures, year on year, to ensure an equal gender split by 2024.

3. Introduce a greater spread of formats for women’s matches, ensuring that women can play at least Hundred, T20, and One Day matches on the main ground, as men already do. This should include a mix of international, county, MCC, and amateur matches comparable to the spread of men’s fixtures.

4. When a men’s amateur event is hosted on the main ground (e.g. University Varsity match, Village Cup Final etc), ensure that the equivalent women’s fixture is also scheduled.

5. Commit to improving gender representation within: 1) the MCC Committee (currently 12 per cent women); 2) the MCC World Cricket Committee (currently 7 per cent women); and 3) the MCC Secretariat (currently 14 per cent women).

6. Appoint a Diversity and Inclusion representative within one or more of the above committees who can assist with: 1) ensuring that the new MCC Code of Conduct is upheld; 2) ensuring that the aforementioned actions are implemented; and 3) handling any complaints that arise related to equity and diversity.

7. Transparently report gender and other diversity related statistics on the MCC website in an easily accessible manner.

8. Commit to increasing the visibility of women’s cricket within the ground, for example, by introducing statues of female cricketers and commissioning artworks of women for the ground (starting with Rachael Heyhoe Flint).

9. Commit to the post-COVID recovery of women’s cricket being given equal consideration and priority as the men’s cricket is.

10. Set out an MCC action plan/framework for developing women’s cricket, ensuring that it is aligned to the England Cricket Board’s own comprehensive action plan for Transforming Women’s and Girls’ Cricket and the ICC’s clear focus on and commitment to growing the women’s game.

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Signers list

Brian Handy
Ian John Kirby
Diane Valli
Henry Oscar Davies Patton
Caoimhe Gethings
Brittany Carter
Khadija
Eleanor Hughes
Quinn Higgins
Richard Morgan
Serena Alagappan
Parveen Ali
Julia Marshall
Sneha
Syd Egan
Stuart Willetts
Oliver Storey
David W Rogers
Michael Eglington
Hatim Hussain
Krish Sastry
John Thompson
Edward Radford
Diana Hall
Gerald Simpson
Rosie Jephson
Daniel Whitehead
Beth Hamilton
Ravi Nair
Constanza
Martina Quinn
Guy Stansfield
Lilian Atari
John Fox-Mills
Svenja Küchenhoff
Kirsty Green
Marcus Dahl
Stephen Yarwood
Elizabeth Owen
Justin Clarke
Sally Rowney
Moya Dodd
Helen Clay
Clarisse Emond-Larochelle
Amelia Standing
Sarah Coyte
Jude
Merrin Froggett
Maria Victoria Scherer Keen
Wyn Morgan

Request for More Women’s Cricket Matches and Greater Gender Inclusivity at Lord’s

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