Alleyne says it won't be easy for cricket to 'move on' from racism

Former England cricketer Mark Alleyne says it won’t be easy for the game to ‘move on’ from racism revelations, but hopes to ‘leave a culture of black people wanting to go into coaching’

• Cricket has been rocked by revelations of historical racism in past 15 months
• Former Gloucestershire captain Mark Alleyne is looking to improve diversity
• Alleyne wants to see black coaches at counties and says attitudes must change 

Mark Alleyne has warned that cricket will take time to move on from the revelations of historical racism over the past 15 months – but has urged the sport to bring more black players and coaches through the system.

Alleyne, 53, who played 10 ODIs for England, captained the A side on three tours and led Gloucestershire to a host of one-day trophies, said it had taken a while for black cricketers to speak out about their experiences ‘for fear of things grinding to a halt’.

Now, though, he wants to help improve cricket’s diversity in Bristol, where he will coach local youngsters as part of a new African-Caribbean Engagement project based at Gloucestershire’s Nevil Road and backed by Royal London.

Former Gloucestershire captain Mark Alleyne is the club’s assistant coach

‘I never thought much before about being a role model,’ he told Sportsmail. ‘I have thought about it a lot since. And I’ve sometimes been disappointed with myself that I haven’t made more of an impact.

‘I was very focused on making sure I was a good father after an illustrious career. Maybe I could have been not so self-centred and helped a wider group of people.’

Last year, Alleyne described the lack of black coaches in county cricket as ‘disgusting’, and believes attitudes still need to change.

Alleyne made 10 one-day international appearances for England between 1999 and 2000

‘Looking back, the thing that was slightly irritating was being constantly described as ‘the black captain’. And I thought: ‘Yes, I am black, and I’m proud of it.’ But I earned that position by right. It just always seemed to be a connotation attached, subconsciously or not.’

‘I don’t think it’s going to be easy to move on from the horror stories last year, because there will be a lot of innocent people who will feel offended and tarnished by some of the accusations. That’s going to have to play out a bit first before we move on properly.

‘But I’m really glad the dialogue is out there now, and I hope to leave a culture of black people wanting to go into coaching – not just because there are no black coaches, but because that’s what they love doing.’

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