Player Power in new EDI game

The England women’s team has taken part in the first ‘Power Play’ session, the ground-breaking EDI boardgame created by the PCA.

During a camp at Loughborough, 15 players and six staff members, including Tammy Beaumont, Alice Capsey and former PCA President and current England women’s head coach Charlotte Edwards, enthusiastically engaged with the new game developed in conjunction with AKD Solutions.

Taken from AKD Solutions ‘Equally Yours’ game, ‘Power Play’ enables players to explore equity, diversity and inclusion topics, in an open, honest and safe environment, with the aim to tackle often uncomfortable topics through a competitive boardgame in a fun environment.

With all men’s and women’s professional county squads previously engaging in proactive EDI education through the PCA as part of the ‘Learn Before Wicket’ programme, the output from those sessions has formulated the programme’s second phase – the ‘Power Play’ game.

Two years in the making, ‘Power Play’ was developed by the PCA’s Director of People, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Donna Fraser OBE, alongside AKD Solutions, the PCA Inclusion Champions and most importantly, direct feedback from the players.

During the session, players are arranged into small groups and are tasked with rolling the dice to land on a square and given a question from one of three categories: ‘I dare you!’, ‘Need to know’ and ‘What would you do?’. The teams are asked the question, then they convene to discuss their answer and present their findings back to the full group.

Working around the board answering questions on EDI topics, the interactive learning tool encourages players to participate in important conversations as they gain points for how informed their answers were, maintaining that competitive edge as they take on their peers.

The sessions are facilitated by the PCA’s expert team of seven Inclusion Champions, made up of current and former players, who score the teams answers as they navigate their way through the game and are on hand to answer any important questions, share their own lived experiences and enable positive and inclusive conversations.

The PCA’s ‘Learn Before Wicket’ EDI educational programme was developed based on feedback from player surveys, Personal Development Manager (PDM) conversations with players and outcomes from the ECB Dressing Room Culture Capture review. The programme has been designed to empower members with the necessary skills and knowledge to embrace diversity, exercise inclusivity and promote equity within their cricket environment.

Sessions are being booked in for all professional squads and importantly, the coaches and backroom staff with the aim to broaden their EDI knowledge and foster challenging conversations in a way to benefit each individual environment.

PCA Director of People, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Donna Fraser, said: “The purpose is for the players to really immerse themselves in the game. This is truly the most exciting phase yet in further developing inclusive environments within cricket as it gives power to the players with them directing conversations and making everything about their views, beliefs, understanding and experiences. It’s refreshing to see EDI conversations evolving through extensive member feedback.

“We’re here to educate all the players and the beauty of the game is we can keep developing it and adding questions as real life topics arise, there’s so many different areas that we can discuss.

“The whole purpose of the LBW programme is to help people feel comfortable in speaking their truth, there’s no right or wrong answer, it’s about having open conversations.”

England and Surrey all-rounder, Alice Capsey, said: “As a group we’re very lucky to have the PCA and for them to be able to put on these sessions is really important, everyone has learnt a lot from today. It can be a catalyst for having further inclusive conversations in the future and help make our environment as good as it can be.

“When you have the knowledge, that aids the confidence in speaking about these topics, they can be uncomfortable but hearing different people’s opinions is really important in professional sport and these sessions add to that.”

England and The Blaze batter, Tammy Beaumont, said: “It was really thought provoking. It’s always important to check in with these topics and look at your culture to see how we can improve it and make it more equal and inclusive for everyone.

“The game is so global nowadays, it’s shifting with different cultures. It’s about having that open mindset and learning about new cultures and people’s preferences and becoming a lot more tolerant of each other, hopefully we can keep making cricket a game for everyone.”

England and Warwickshire all-rounder, Issy Wong, said: “In our environment when we’re living in each other’s pockets all the time, it’s important to try and make it the best place we can and somewhere we can enjoy playing cricket, if we’re a happier group then we’re more likely to play some better cricket.

“It’s important these discussions keep happening and actually having the confidence to challenge in a safe space, this sort of activity allows us to create that space.”

Learn more about EDI at the PCA here.