ABSTRACT
Biases in selection towards white and privately educated athletes within talent development pathways (TDPs) and professional sport has been previously documented. However, the extent to which sociodemographic factors influence the recruitment into TDPs and the successful transition to professional status (PS) in cricket is unknown. Thus, this chapter aimed to examine the sociodemographic profile of youth and professional cricketers across nine geographical regions in England and Wales. Specifically, this chapter offers two case studies to explore the implications of (a) relative access to wealth (i.e., school type attended) and (b) ethnicity. Divided into three groups, findings were compared against expected distributions based on normative data across nine regions: (a) U10–U15 (n = 3,299), (b) U16–U19 (n = 815), and (c) PS (n = 371). Overall, results highlighted socioeconomic and racial biases, predominantly favouring privately educated and white cricketers. Interestingly, although British South Asian cricketers were over-represented when compared to norms at youth level, results indicated a reverse effect at PS whereby they become under-represented. Furthermore, findings showed that Black British cricketers are under-represented throughout TDPs across the majority of regions.
