'Traditional macho bullying needs to soften': Andrew Strauss calls for inclusivity in men's game during MCC lecture

ECB administrator and former England captain Andrew Strauss who recently conducted a high-performance review into cricket in his country used the Marylebone Cricket Club Cowdrey Lecture at Lord's to highlight several topics including the spirit of cricket.

Strauss stressed that dressing rooms need to evolve with the changing times and called for better inclusivity of genders, races and backgrounds.

"Perhaps more importantly the spirit of cricket needs to accompany modern players and I am speaking primarily about the men's game now into an area that neither the prying eyes of the media nor the feverish adulation of the fans penetrate; the dressing room," Strauss said on Wednesday.

"As we move forward together as a game with players of different genders, races, creeds and beliefs coming together, so the traditional macho, hierarchical, perhaps at times verging on 'bullying' dressing-room banter will need to be softened to a culture that is more tolerant, understanding, welcoming and embracing of difference.

"The events over the last 18 months, whether they come from Yorkshire or elsewhere have shown we have a lot of work to do in this area, but the spirit of cricket demands this."

Strauss's comments come after the Yorkshire racism scandal where Yorkshire cricket player Azeem Rafiq alleged that he was subjected to racist abuse and bullying during his two tenures at the club between 2008–2014, and 2016–2018 and accused the club of being institutionally racist.

He complained officially in 2018, but an independent inquiry was not launched until 2020, leading to criticism of the Yorkshire Cricket Club (YCCC) for its handling of the affair.