Professional coach suspended for ‘inappropriate sexual behaviour’

A professional county coach has been suspended from cricket for six months by the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) after engaging in inappropriate conduct with a player under his care.

The incidents took place in March 2024, on a pre-season tour for the men’s and women’s teams from an unspecified county. It was regarded as serious misconduct by The Cricket Regulator, with the coach losing his role in the professional game.

The ECB issued a charge letter to the coach on May 22, 2024, citing a breach of regulation 3.3 of the 2023 Professional Conduct Regulations which states: “No Participant may conduct themself in a manner, do any act or make any omission at any time which is improper, or which may be prejudicial to the interests of cricket, or which may bring the ECB, the game of cricket or any cricketer or group of cricketers into disrepute.” On July 25, 2024, the coach wrote to the CDC to admit the charge.

Both the identity of the coach – referred to in the Regulator’s published findings as “Coach A” – and the player in question (“Player 1”) were anonymised, along with another player (Player 2) and a senior employee at the county, who provided witness statements. The CDC insisted on redacting identities to ensure victims or potentially vulnerable witnesses could not be identified.

Other evidence included a call log showing calls between Coach A and Player 1, a schedule setting out messages between Coach A and Player 1, and the transcript of Coach A’s interview with the Regulator. The CDC saw no need to reproduce the full facts of the decision given they have been admitted by the respective parties.

Three months of Coach A’s six-month suspension has already deemed to be served as he was out of the game since the date of the last incident in March 2024, with the second set of three months suspended for a two-year period from that time, depending on the coach’s future conduct. The CDC supported the recommendation for him to undertake appropriate training at his own cost and have not imposed a fine mindful of the impact of the financial loss on Coach A and his family.

In a statement released on Tuesday, interim director of The Cricket Regulator Dave Lewis said: “The Cricket Regulator seeks to protect all participants from inappropriate sexual behaviour, particularly when perpetrated by those in a position of power or trust. The Regulator recognises the importance of participants feeling empowered to report these matters and will always seek to protect the identities of victims and vulnerable witnesses.”

The CDC considered mitigating factors when sentencing Coach A, including the fact he took full responsibility for his actions from the start, apologised, expressed contrition and had “an unblemished record over a long career” prior to the incidents. The panel also noted Coach A had recently completed all the required safeguarding courses and has since gained an up-to-date DBS check.