Cricket will join football’s social media blackout this weekend, the England and Wales Cricket Board have announced.
In line with the social media silence from 3pm on Friday until 23.59pm at the end of Bank Holiday Monday, cricket’s administrators have united in a similar fashion to football’s.
The ECB, Professional Cricketers’ Association and the 18 first-class counties — all of whom are playing this weekend — will join the boycott. A joint statement said that the game stood “shoulder to shoulder with football”.
The aim is to encourage social media companies to take a stronger stance on online abuse, particularly of a racist nature, directed at players.
ECB chief executive Tom Harrison said: “We are united in our commitment to fight racism and we will not tolerate the kind of discriminatory abuse that has become so prevalent on social media platforms.”
Rob Lynch, the PCA chief added: “Social media companies have to do more. Our members are often victims of horrific online abuse with little or no punishment for the perpetrators and this has to change.
“A unified silence from players and the wider game is a powerful stance to show that our members will not allow social media companies, which have brought so much benefit to the game, to continue to ignore and fail to prioritise the need for appropriate legislation in protecting people.”
Premiership Rugby and their clubs will also join the boycott, but there is not yet a game-wide directive from the RFU to do so.
