Former county coach suspended over charges of sexual misconduct

An unnamed former county cricket coach has been suspended for nine months after admitting charges of sexual misconduct, including sending sexually explicit photos to two junior female colleagues.

The independent Cricket Discipline Panel (CDP) issued the sanction after he admitted to five breaches of professional conduct regulations over incidents in 2023 and 2024, which included attempting to kiss one of the victims in a club changing room.

The CDP cited "exceptional circumstances regarding the health of that coach and the serious risk of harm" for not naming him when publishing the report of its disciplinary tribunal on Wednesday.

He was sacked as a result of his behaviour and hasn't been employed in cricket since.

The CDP issued the coach a nine-month suspension from cricket. Six months of the sanction were backdated to when he was charged and the remainder was suspended for a period of 12 months because he had accepted responsibility, shown remorse and undergone effective remedial education.

He worked with a former professional sportswoman to understand the impact of unsolicited explicit messages, as well as completing courses on sexual harassment and professional boundaries, the CDP said.

The tribunal heard evidence that the man "engaged in inappropriate and sexualised messaging" with one of the victims. He stopped when she asked him to but, some days later, sent "a further message of a sexualised and inappropriate nature".

The second victim, who was much younger than the man and had to interact with him as part of her work, also received sexually explicit pictures from him, to which she didn't respond. Later, he asked her to check the changing rooms for rubbish and, whilst there, he "made an inappropriate attempt to kiss" the victim, who pulled away.

In its decision, the CDP stated that although he was not in a formal position of trust with regard to either victim, he was considerably older than both of them and there was "a clear imbalance" between his position at the club and theirs.

Chris Haward, managing director of the Cricket Regulator, described the misconduct as unacceptable and praised the "openness and courage of those who reported" it.

"Removing sexual misconduct from the game is a priority for the Cricket Regulator," Haward said. "We recognise that it takes a lot of courage for those impacted to come forward."

The CDP said that while the man made limited admissions to allegations initially put to him by the Cricket Regulator, it "was clear to the Disciplinary Tribunal that the Respondent was a different person to the one who was initially interviewed".

The panel heard that the man had undergone counselling over many months.

"He hoped that now he was emerging as a better person," the tribunal report said. "He had a greater understanding of workplace boundaries, the misuse of social media and what amounted to sexual harassment."