The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Cricket Regulator have published their external safeguarding case review into the historic offending of coach Michael Strange, convicted of multiple sexual offences against under-age boys in the North East of England.
The ECB has stated that “safeguarding is at the forefront of our agenda.” But the review exposes behaviours that should never have been normalised or excused. The coach’s conduct included:
- Hosting sleepovers with young players when his wife was away.
- Distributing pornographic material in changing rooms.
- Touching young people during training.
- Sitting in his towel for long periods among boys and young men.
- Grooming parents who trusted him implicitly with their children.
The reviewer wrote:
“It should not have required policies and procedures … for the inappropriateness of his behaviour to be readily evident to those with whom he would spend a considerable amount of time.”
And:
“Whilst the worst of what he did was unknown enough, it was known to have caused concern.”
How does this still happen?
We have seen this pattern time and again. It starts small — with over-familiarity, secrecy, or blurred boundaries — and escalates in environments where nobody feels confident to challenge inappropriate behaviour. These offences occurred at grassroots level, but within pathways leading to county cricket. That intersection between opportunity, ambition and access is where grooming thrives.
The lessons for leaders
This review is not just about one man. It’s about culture, vigilance and leadership.
Key takeaways:
Behavioural warning signs matter. Don’t wait for policy breaches — challenge early, even if it feels uncomfortable.
Empower people to speak. Players, parents and volunteers need to know that low-level concerns will be taken seriously.
Safeguarding is strategic. Boards must treat safeguarding reports with the same weight as financial or operational risk.
Transparency builds trust. Honest reflection, clear reporting and visible accountability prevent repetition.
Final reflections
These findings are a sobering reminder that policies alone do not keep children safe — people and culture do. Every organisation, from grassroots sport to national governing bodies, must ask:
Do our systems make it easy to raise concerns?
Are we modelling the behaviour we expect from others?
Are we listening to the quiet warning signs?
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. The real measure of progress is not how many policies we publish, but how confidently our people act when something feels wrong.