Cricket celebrates Rainbow Laces to support LGBTQ+ inclusion

Derbyshire will wear Rainbow Laces during their upcoming Vitality County Championship fixture with Yorkshire, to demonstrate continued support for the LGBTQ+ community, alongside all other first-class counties and the wider game. 

England Women and New Zealand Women will wear rainbow laces and play with rainbow stumps in their Metro Bank ODI at Visit Worcestershire New Road on Sunday June 30, while First Class Counties and Women’s Regional Teams will support the campaign in Vitality Blast, Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and Vitality County Championship fixtures.

This includes Derbyshire’s first-class fixture against Yorkshire, taking place at Queen’s Park as part of the BRM Chesterfield Festival of Cricket.

It is the seventh year that the whole game has come together to support LGBTQ+ inclusion in cricket via the Rainbow Laces campaign, originally launched by Stonewall, and this year the LGBTQ+ Community in Cricket Employee Network will also be marching at Pride in London on Saturday June 29.

In addition, rainbow laces and rainbow stump stickers have also been sent to a number of cricket clubs to support the campaign at recreational level across England and Wales, while an online educational Rainbow Laces toolkit has been shared to help foster greater LGBTQ+ inclusion within clubs.

England Women’s captain Heather Knight said: “It’s nice to think that a campaign like Rainbow Laces, with player advocacy and visibility, might just help a member of the LGBTQ+ community who is struggling. As we approach the end of Pride Month, it’s a message that we as a team are delighted to promote.”

ECB Chief Executive Officer Richard Gould said: “We’re very clear in our ambition to become the most inclusive team sport in England and Wales and campaigns like Rainbow Laces can help our game on that journey. We want the LGBTQ+ community to feel welcome and included in cricket, whether as players, fans or participants. It’s brilliant to see the game at professional and recreational level stand firmly behind LGBTQ+ inclusion and to see our game communicate its continued desire to be a game for everyone.”