Michael Strange: Cricket sex abuse victim says sport's bosses failed to protect him

Michael Strange was previously put on the Sex Offenders' Register for life

A man sexually assaulted by his cricket coach as a teenager has said he was "disappointed" in the sport's authorities for failing to protect him.

Michael Strange has admitted or been convicted on five occasions of abusing young players at two North East clubs.

The 63-year-old was jailed at Newcastle Crown Court for two more years for an indecent assault in the late 1990s.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said it had commenced an internally-led review.

The court heard that a fifth victim came forward in January 2022 after seeing reports about previous cases involving the former junior coach for Durham County Cricket Club.

'Embarrassing secret'

Prosecutor Neil Pallister said Strange approached the complainant, who was 15 at the time, told him he was a cricket scout and offered him the chance to play senior cricket at his club.

"This was a big step up from the children's cricket the complainant had been playing and he was keen to take up the opportunity," Mr Pallister said.

The court heard Strange, previously of Bensham, Gateshead, had befriended the teenager and his parents.

On the night of the assault the victim had gone back to Strange's house after a match and was waiting for his parents when Strange put on a pornographic film and began to touch him, the court was told.

The ordeal lasted between 20 and 30 minutes until the teenager saw the headlights of his father's car in the window.

Strange told the victim to tell his parents they had been talking about cricket, Mr Pallister said.

In a victim statement read to the court on Thursday, the man said Strange's actions and behaviour had been "an embarrassing secret".

"I felt disgust, shame and guilt but never had the courage to speak to anyone until now," he said.

The victim said he "struggled to understand" the abuse of power and trust, and was "disappointed" by cricket authorities for not identifying the offending earlier.

He said they had failed to protect "me and countless other vulnerable children".

"I hope safeguarding measures are constantly reviewed to prevent similar incidents in future," he added.

'Dangerous predator'

Strange was previously jailed in 2012 for six years for abusing three boys in the 1990s.

In 2016 he received an additional three-year sentence for abusing another teen in the early 2000s, and in 2020 he was handed an extra-four-and-half years behind bars for indecently assaulting another boy.

And, last year he was jailed for an additional 40 months after he pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent sexual assault.

He has been placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for life.

Judge Stephen Earl described Strange's behaviour as "appalling" and "an abuse of trust", as he sentenced him to a further two years, to run consecutively to his previous sentence.

Det Con Lisa Herron, of Northumbria Police said: "Strange, once revered as a 'hero' in cricket circles, is a dangerous predator who preyed on young boys under his tutorage in the most sickening of ways."

"He robbed multiple promising young cricket stars of their innocence."

A spokesperson for the England and Wales Cricket Board said: "Michael Strange has not been involved in cricket since he was suspended from all cricket activity in May 2005, so the full scope of his crimes are only clear to us now.

"We are distraught that he was able to commit these crimes.

"The landscape of safeguarding has changed enormously in 18 years but we have worked with statutory partners on this case and we have commenced an internally-led review to establish further information about the environment in which Strange committed his offences within cricket to inform best practice and to further develop ECB's safeguarding strategy."