EXCLUSIVE: ECB contacts police to discuss opening investigation into four-time convicted paedophile and ex-Durham coach Michael Strange amid questions over their handling of child sex abuse cases
- Mail Sport pointed out to the ECB that they had failed to conduct a probe
- Strange was found to have abused young cricketers in the North East
The ECB have contacted Northumbria Police to discuss opening an investigation into quadruple-convicted paedophile Michael Strange — 11 years after his first prison sentence.
Mail Sport pointed out to the national governing body that they had failed to conduct a probe into ex-Durham scout Strange despite him receiving four prison terms in a decade — the most recent was just last year.
One lawyer claimed such cases are being ‘swept under the carpet’ in cricket, while Mail Sport revealed yesterday that an ECB report scrutinising safeguarding measures just weeks after the Andy Woodward football abuse scandal has still not been released seven years on.
But following Mail Sport’s approach, the ECB have reached out to their statutory partners — which include Northumbria Police and the North-East safeguarding children partnership executive — to assess whether a probe into Strange should be opened.
The involvement of police marks the seriousness of the matter. It comes as the organisation face further questions over their handling of child sex abuse cases within cricket which have mounted up in recent years.
Michael Strange, a convicted paedophile, used to work as a coach and scout at Durham
Strange, an ex-Durham coach and scout in the 1990s, was first convicted to a six-year sentence in 2012 for abusing young boys in the North East. More survivors — there are five in total — were later unearthed over a 10-year period. They were all young cricketers, some of whom played at Bill Quay cricket club in Gateshead which is where the paedophile was club captain and coach.
He was then given three further prison terms — in 2016, 2020 and 2022 — increasing his punishment to 13-and-a-half years for the historic offences which all took place between 1990 and 2004.
The ECB’s failure to open an investigation is further highlighted by the their response to the Matthew Hyam case. The ex-Essex girls’ coach was convicted in 2021 for taking and making child abuse images.
Hyam was subsequently sentenced to two years and four months in prison in September 2021, and the ECB commissioned an independent report into him. The findings of this probe were never published.
It is unclear why a probe was done in relation to Hyam, but not Strange.
Dino Nocivelli, a lawyer who has represented multiple survivors, told Mail Sport: ‘There should be an investigation into Michael Strange.
‘Child abuse cannot be swept under the carpet or ignored, otherwise it will continue to happen over and over again in different cricket clubs across the country.
‘Every single day we don’t act, another child is at risk. We don’t know what the failings were surrounding Strange. There does seem to be an abuse problem in cricket.’
There has been a spate of high-profile child-related incidents in recent years, including ex-England and Essex coach John Williams convicted in 2017 for possessing such images, and paedophile coach Wasim Aslam being allowed to go on cricket tours with kids despite a previous four-year sentence.
The ECB are facing questions over a report scrutinising child safeguarding measures – with football abuse survivor Andy Woodward (R) questioning whether they ‘have something to hide’
Kyniska Advocacy, a charity which supports abuse survivors in sport, said: ‘The ECB not conducting a thorough review of abuse in cricket looks like yet another example of national governing bodies protecting their own reputation over and above building trust with their members, and therefore not prioritising athlete wellbeing and safety.
‘Sport cannot and should not be self-regulating and a law unto itself.’
An ECB spokesman said: ‘Following his arrest in 2005, the ECB imposed an interim suspension on Michael Strange from all cricket activity, and he was permanently disqualified from all cricket activity in April 2006.
‘The ECB does not hold any information about the offences, which were dealt with by the police, for which Mr Strange was convicted post-2006. Given he was no longer involved in cricket, the ECB has no legal right to that information.
‘Since becoming aware of the identity of one of Strange’s victims and receiving further information, we have approached our statutory partners in the area to discuss how the ECB can gain a full understanding of Strange’s offending behaviour and whether a review is necessary. That process remains ongoing.’
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