IWCB News

---

Positions of Trust – The law is changing 

June 2022

 It is currently an offence in England and Wales for anyone aged over 18 years in a position of trust to engage in sexual activity with a child in their care. On 28th June 2022 the roles included in the definition of position of trust are being extended to include anyone who “coaches, teaches, trains, supervises or instructs on a regular basis in a sport or religion”. 

This very welcome change in the law extends legal protection particularly to 16- and 17-year-olds who are participating in sport. Sexual contact with those under 16 remains prohibited within existing legislation. 

This change supports and strengthens the existing expectations of the coaches' code of conduct, which states that coaches must avoid sexual intimacy with players, either while coaching them or in the period of time immediately following the end of a coaching relationship. 

The ECB expects that everyone who works or volunteers with children and young people in cricket to be responsible and accountable for the way in which they behave towards them. It is expected that all adult-child relationships maintain clear boundaries, are positive and aimed at improving the young person’s skills, development and progress. 

The ECB Safeguarding Team will continue to assess all instances of inappropriate behaviour towards children in cricket, referring any potential illegal activity to our safeguarding partners.

A three-hour face to face course designed to give learners the knowledge, skills and confidence to support qualified coaches.

The ECB Support Coach programme is the assistant coach provision for cricket coaching in England and Wales. This programme is part of a strategic response to needing more support (assistant) coaches on the ground able to inspire and develop players. The programme makes becoming a coach much more accessible in terms of time commitment and cost. 

The course is designed to make taking your first steps onto the coaching pathway fun, interesting and engaging and enables candidates to make a real difference to their club and community. ECB Support Coach replaces the previous Coach Support Worker provision.

For full course descriptor and structure, please visit the ECB support coach pages of there website.

To book your free place please Register Here (Please Click Pay Off Line to get the course FoC)

Temperatures across England and Wales are set to top 30oC in the coming days. We won’t be issuing specific instructions on how clubs and leagues should navigate this unusually warm weather. However, we felt it necessary to highlight the duty of care that the game has over players and officials whilst on the cricket field.

As always, the ground, weather and light remain under the jurisdiction of umpires / coaches. Below are some pointers that may help ‘Get the Game On’ this weekend.

KEEP HYDRATED

• take extra drinks breaks .e.g. every 10 overs and also allows drinks to be brought on at the fall of each wicket.
• replace lost electrolytes 

EMBRACE IN THE SHADE

• use sun cream, wide-brimmed hats and long sleeves
• create additional shaded areas for the batting side 
• employ a 12th man to rotate fielders where competition regulations allow

LIMIT PEAK SUN EXPOSURE

• If possible, consider rescheduling matches or training away from the middle of the afternoon when the sun will be hottest#

GROUNDS MANAGEMENT

The Grounds Management Association have published an essential guide for Cricket Grounds Managers on:

• working safely in the heat and sun, and 
• how to adapt your pitch preparation and maintenance to keep pitches playing safely in dry, hot conditions.

You and your groundstaff can view the guidance on the GMA Toolkit for Cricket homepage.

Above all we encourage everyone look out for each other and to stay alert to signs of heat exhaustion in yourself and others. Symptoms include - dizziness, headaches, nausea.

Note the heat poses an even greater risk to children so we recommend being particularly cautious with activity involving under 18s

Have fun and stay safe.