Essex will not name those involved in alleged racism

John Stephenson played for Hampshire and Essex and one Test match for England

Chief executive John Stephenson says Essex will never publicly name former players and staff members allegedly involved in racist behaviour.

The club have been charged with breaching England and Wales Cricket Board rules relating to racist language or conduct between 2001 and 2010.

The case will now be heard by an independent Cricket Discipline Commission.

Stephenson told BBC Essex Sport that a decision over whether to admit the charge would be taken at a board meeting later this week.

Essex commissioned their own inquiry into the issues, culminating in a report by Katharine Newton KC, published in December, which concluded that a number of the club's former players were victims of racist abuse and discriminatory treatment.

Jahid Ahmed, Maurice Chambers and Zoheb Sharif were among those whose allegations prompted the inquiry, but the report did not identify any victims or perpetrators by name.

"That’s never going to come out," said Stephenson.

"We have to think about the welfare of the individuals - we've taken a lot of advice on that in terms of data privacy and there will be nothing more said on that."

Stephenson has been chief executive at Chelmsford since the autumn of 2021, having previously worked for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).

In the wake of the Newton report, a committee was set up to consider sanctions against those involved and Stephenson said they now "know where they stand" without elaborating further.

Meanwhile, Essex are working with the victims to "reintegrate" them back into the club, he said.

"That is going to be an ongoing process," Stephenson continued.

He said the charge was in some ways "a relief" as the club now knows its possible fate.

"There are definitely concerns [about possible penalties]," Stephenson added.

"It’s hanging over our head but I would say we’re in a pretty good position because of everything we’ve done the last couple of years, the transparency we’ve displayed, so there’s a lot of mitigation and that’s what we’ll be going into the meetings with."

Essex sit second in Division One of the County Championship and any deduction of points, if they admit guilt or are found guilty, could end their chances of winning the title for the first time since 2019.

Stephenson said: "Obviously we don’t want it to determine the outcome of the Championship season so I’m hoping they’ll take that into account as well."