Gloucester cricket team docked points for refusing to play during Eid

A Gloucester cricket club says it is being discriminated against after it was docked maximum points for missing a match which clashed with a major religious festival.

The management of Gloucester AIW CC say it is a ‘travesty’ after it was penalised because a fixture against Redmarley CC’s first team clashed with Eid.

Both teams were due to play on Saturday August 10 at the city’s ground at The Crypt School in Podsmead.

Gloucester AIW CC it was “akin to asking other clubs to play on Christmas Day”.

While Gloucester AIW CC said it offered a number of alternative dates, only to be turned down by Redmarley CC.

A spokesman for the visiting team said they were unable to “provide a competitive team” on any other day except a Saturday.

The Gloucestershire County Cricket League (GCCL), which both teams are part of, said the “league operated in the terms of its rules” while trying to resolve the dispute.

What are Gloucester AIW CC saying?

In a statement released via the club Twitter page they reflected on the euphoria of England's first World Cup win and the diversity of the current national side before explaining their situation.

It reads: "The GCCL and our opponents were notified seven months ago of a potential clash with the Eid Festival, immediately once the fixtures were first made available in January.

"The GCCL has a specific clause in its constitution (introduced this season) requiring matches to be rearranged, where there is a risk of games coinciding with Eid. Gloucester AIW offered our opponents a variety of alternative dates throughout the regular season to reschedule the game including any Sunday or one of the three summer Bank Holidays, in keeping with the process required by the league.

“They failed to co-operate and refused to countenance any of the options offered.”

The club goes on to say the GCCL Management Committee was “kept fully up to date” on its efforts to find a solution and was “made aware of the lack of progress”.

It said that at the start of the season in May it repeatedly continued to try to find a solution.

“Officials, however, refused to engage in any discussions and failed to respond to our repeated requests for meeting on six separate occasions.”

It added: “Instead, the Management Committee instructed Gloucester AIW to either raise a team and play on Eid, akin to asking other clubs to play on Christmas Day, or face having the match conceded to our opponents.”

Throughout July and August Gloucester AIW CC continued, it said, to try to resolve the issue.

“With the fixture approaching on August 10, and with a heavy heart, further correspondences were sent to the GCCL on July 16 and August 6 highlighting to the League that their actions and threat to penalise our club meant that they were wilfully prepared to facilitate discrimination against Gloucester AIW, on the grounds of religious belief.

“We implored them to reconsider their whole handling of the matter and meet with us.

“Unfortunately, officials again refused to meet or discuss the matter.”

What penalty was awarded to Gloucester AIW CC?

For not playing the fixture, the club was docked 22 points, and Redmarley CC awarded 20 points.

Gloucester AIW CC said: “It is a travesty that, in 2019, a local club can be penalised by a sporting body for not being able to play a cricket match because it clashes with a religious festival.”

Gloucester AIW is one of the oldest cricket clubs of South Indian origin in the region, having been founded in 1962.

It now wants to raise the issue at the highest levels of the game saying it is “left with no alternative but to make public this  deeply upsetting and heart-breaking episode”.

“Players no longer wish to commit to playing the sport if they have the view that they or their rights will not be protected when they need support at the most important times.

"The ECB and GCB aspire to engaged and deepen the participation of clubs like Gloucester AIW in the structures of the game - they need to understand that having statements in the constitutions committing to equality or setting out grand visions to bring communities together or working towards making the game more attractive to the next generation of players are mere lip service, if they are not then followed up with action and leadership."

What are the GCCL saying?

When Gloucestershire Live contacted the league chairman, Brian Hudson, he said: “The league operated in the terms of it’s rules and there is no further comment to make by anyone from the league.”

What about Redmarley CC?

James Holland, the chairman of Redmarley CC said: “We were or are unable to accommodate league cricket outside of Saturdays. We were just effectively unable to provide a competitive team on a date on a Saturday before the scheduled day.”