Photo Credit: Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia (CA) has released its Multicultural Action Plan to create further engagement and inclusion in all areas of Australian Cricket and continue the game’s mission to be a Sport for All.
Click here to view the Multicultural Action Plan
The Plan is the result of thousands of hours of consultation with members of local communities to help understand the current state of connection including ongoing successes and potential challenges.
As part of the research, there was a specific focus on understanding the experiences of South Asian communities in cricket. As the fastest growing demographic in Australia, people of South Asian heritage are considered critical to the game’s growth in all areas including decision making and volunteerism.
However, the initiatives outlined in the plan are targeted at all culturally diverse communities and the initiatives will benefit the inclusion of all such groups.
The Multicultural Action Plan was informed by research conducted using funding from the Australian Government’s Major Event Legacy Fund and identifies five priority areas for enhancement: Participation, High Performance, People and Representation, Communications and Engagement, and Events and Experience.
A major component of the plan is the 10 key actions that will facilitate the plan’s ambitions. These include providing additional funding and support to increase representation in key roles such as coaching and umpiring, and ensuring the match-day experiences are welcoming and inclusive for all fans.
This funding will be available to all multicultural groups and the plan will help drive participation, attendance and other forms of engagement from people of all backgrounds.
Cricket’s unique opportunity to further engage cricket-loving South Asian communities was highlighted during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 when more than 150,000 fans attended two games at the MCG featuring India and Pakistan.
Accordingly, Australian Cricket has set the goals of doubling the number of people from South Asian backgrounds who attend cricket matches in Australia each year from 100,000 to 200,000 and increasing the number of those registered to play cricket from 70,000 to 100,000 by 2027.
The number of players with South Asian backgrounds in junior pathway teams across Australian Cricket has grown substantially in recent years to 18% of all players.
The aspiration is to increase the number of players from these backgrounds in First Class, State and Territory and W/BBL teams from the current 4.2% to 8% by 2027.
Nick Hockley, CA Chief Executive said:
“Australian Cricket is proud of the way it has engaged and included members of multicultural communities in all areas of the game as we pursue our mission to be a Sport for All.
“This Multicultural Action Plan was developed after extensive consultation across the community and will enhance and accelerate measures already in place to ensure our game is welcoming, inclusive and fully representative of our population.
“The enormous crowds at the ICC T20 World Cup provided a wonderful demonstration of cricket’s unique opportunity to bring people together and engage more Australians from South Asian backgrounds in all areas of our game – be that as players, fans, club volunteers, administrators, umpires or coaches.
“I’m particularly grateful to Usman Khawaja and Lisa Sthalekar for helping us launch and providing inspiration for a Plan that we are confident will lead to more outstanding players from South Asian and other multicultural backgrounds rising through the ranks of Australian cricket.”
Australian players Usman Khawaja and Alana King said:
“We are delighted that Australian Cricket has formulated this Action Plan to ensure the great love of cricket by South Asian communities in Australia is fully reflected across our sport – with every player welcomed and represented, from community games on local parks to major matches in our greatest stadiums.
“Encouraging more members of culturally diverse backgrounds to become club volunteers, administrators and coaches to achieve greater representation in these roles at all levels is an important part of our plan.
“Creating a sense of ownership and belonging will help us to increase participation in clubs and produce more elite players.
“We look forward to being part of this significant initiative and seeing Australian Cricket successfully deliver this plan to help the game grow and prosper in South Asian and all multicultural communities.”
