ECB says it no longer routinely applies Rooney Rule to national coach hires
The England and Wales Cricket Board told BBC Sport on 16 October 2026 that it has abandoned the routine use of the Rooney Rule when recruiting coaches for its national teams. The board said its recruitment approach has "evolved" since first announcing the commitment in 2018.
In May 2018 the ECB committed to interviewing at least one applicant from an ethnic minority background for all coaching roles in the national men's, women's and disabled teams. That pledge came five years before a report from the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket concluded discrimination was "widespread" in the sport, and the ECB has repeatedly stated its aim for cricket to become "the most inclusive sport in the country." Asked by BBC Sport about 16 roles connected to the England men's and women's teams since 2024, the ECB confirmed not all those appointments were made using the Rooney Rule.
BBC Sport noted some of the 16 recruitments were not coaching positions but roles such as selector or director of cricket. The BBC highlighted recent appointments made in the past week, including Richard Dawson, James Foster and Eric Simons joining the men's Test team coaching staff, while Michael Yardy was named elite national batting lead.
The ECB confirmed that when Stephen Fleming became Test head coach in July at least one ethnic minority candidate formed part of that recruitment process. The organisation's coverage included an image caption stating Stephen Fleming and Brendon McCullum are the England men's head coaches.
The board said an April 2025 appointment of Charlotte Edwards as England women's head coach was made without an open recruitment process or applying the Rooney Rule. Then director of women's cricket Clare Connor told BBC Sport at the time: "I think the Rooney Rule should be absolutely applied in all circumstances where it is deemed feasible. I don't think it's on the whim of the person recruiting or hiring. "It is practise within the ECB across our pathway appointments and our senior appointments in England cricket that we apply the Rooney Rule."
An ECB spokesperson provided further comment on the organisation's current hiring methods: "We regularly review our recruitment practices, and our approach has evolved over the last eight years. "Coach recruitment processes are tailored to the requirements of each role. Some appointments involve open recruitment processes, while others involve targeted searches for specialist skillsets, experience and leadership qualities. At times we recruit an individual, and at others we recruit a team."
The ECB also set out its view on alternatives to routinely applying the Rooney Rule, saying: "In elite sport, the pool of candidates can be relatively small. As such, we use a range of approaches, including external recruitment specialists and the expertise of our internal teams, to identify the strongest possible candidates and ensure we consider coaches from a range of backgrounds. "We remain committed to improving diversity and representation within cricket. We recognise there are differing views on the effectiveness of the Rooney Rule, and instead of applying that in every case, our experience has shown that strengthening the coaching and leadership pipeline, and increasing the number of ethnically diverse and female coaches progressing through the system, is the most effective way of securing long-term change. "We believe that our continued commitment to the coaching pathway and development will have the greatest long-term impact on representation."
As part of its work to improve inclusion, the ECB said it funded more than 1,000 coaching bursaries in 2025, with 22% awarded to coaches from ethnically diverse backgrounds. Since 2021, 21% of coaches taking the advanced level course and 19% of the coaches on the specialist course have been from ethnically diverse backgrounds.