Chris Jordan breaks into a wide smile as he reminisces about his favourite cricket tea. “When I was in the Caribbean, we used to have something called sweet bread with some cheese on top of it. Very simple but very effective,” he says. “I miss it one hundred per cent. Every time I go back home, I tend to have a little bit of it.”

The England fast bowler is talking to WCM at Shepherd’s Bush Cricket Club, who are hosting an ECB ‘Taste of Cricket’ event, sponsored by Remitly, to celebrate their work in engaging the African Caribbean community in West London.

Celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott, TV presenter Chris Bavin and club stalwart Carl Menzie helped cook up an iconic African-Caribbean-style tea, including jerk chicken, curry and rum cake. For Jordan, who grew up in Barbados, it felt like he was back home. “Today was a nice spread of rice, peas, curry chicken, a few samosas, and some mac and cheese. It was a very familiar place for me today.”

Amongst the diverse community enjoying the carnival atmosphere is 82-year-old Wendell Drakes, known as ‘Kipper’. Shepherd’s Bush’s fixtures secretary has been a member for over 40 years, initially introduced to the club through his son.

“Unfortunately, I’m a bit of a fraud because I haven’t faced or bowled one ball here,” he chuckles, sitting under a marquee watching the African Caribbean Heritage Cricket Match. It’s testament to the club’s inclusive culture that Drakes has become part of its fabric, something he might not have imagined when he first moved to England from Barbados.

“Believe it or not, I came here as a 20-year-old about 60 years ago. I arrived in 1962 when Britain was being rebuilt and a lot of people had been through the War. There was a barrier. People looked at you, afraid. I suppose they believed those stories that we were cannibals or something like that. There were times where people were prejudiced. You were being called names.

“I found [Shepherd’s Bush CC] one of the most encouraging places to come. The friendliness, the social life, there were no barriers as such, whereas at some clubs there were. Years ago, it was very difficult for people of a Caribbean background to join clubs.”

When asked what Shepherd’s Bush CC means to him, he chokes up. “It means a hell of a lot to me because... unfortunately I lost my wife four years ago. During my weekends, during the week, you go to work, you come home and there’s no one there. Shepherd’s Bush CC is there on the weekends and in the summer. It’s made life a lot easier.”

It’s thanks to the likes of Menzie that members feel such a strong sense of belonging. Not far from the tantalising aroma of jerk chicken, Menzie is captaining in the club’s long-standing annual Memorial Day Caribbean Cricket Match.

Alongside current club president Alf Langley and his brother Mikey Langley, the trio founded the match in 1983
to remember a late benefactor and celebrate the club’s heritage, making it an ideal platform for the ECB’s Taste of Cricket campaign.

“We’ve been doing this before anybody else and we’d like to keep it going,” says Menzie. “A lot of the black kids need to see people like themselves playing for clubs like this in the top tier of cricket. We don’t want them to feel like they can’t come here.”

Club chair, Will Speer, emphasises that the event is part of a wider effort to ensure diverse communities thrive all year round in West London. Established in 1882, ‘The Bush’ boast a burgeoning women’s and girls’ section, access to cricket for local disadvantaged children, coaching partnerships with local schools, and equipment bursaries for juniors and adults.

“We held a diversity and inclusivity survey to make sure we were doing everything we could be doing,” says Speer. “Even things like having different names on the changing-room doors, calling our first XIs the men’s first XI and the women’s first XI. When we have social events, we make sure there is something for everyone. It’s not just about blokes on a terrace drinking beer.”

As over 100 clubs around England and Wales joined in to savour their own ‘Taste of Cricket’ this summer, they were united by the message that cricket is for everyone. Without that ethos around the game, England Men’s Visually Impaired captain Ed Hossell believes he would not have found a community which has helped him come to terms with his sight loss and regain his independence.

“It can’t be underestimated, the conversations you have on and off the field, and what that sense of belonging can do for people’s lives,” says Hossell, who led Blind Cricket taster sessions in the nets. “Having those conversations over different kinds of food is amazing and cricket is uniquely placed to provide that.”

Nevertheless, the ECB’s chief communications officer, Kate Miller, recognises that more needs to be done at all levels to address inequities in the game. In 2023, the ICEC report found that 72 per cent of black people do not believe that everyone engaged with cricket feels that they belong and can be themselves, regardless of their race/ethnicity.

“I’m aware that we have a really long way to go,” says Miller. “I’m not suggesting for a second that we put on some of these events and everything’s fixed, but I do think things can happen in tandem.

“Cricket can be a sport that has historically underserved many communities and been overtly discriminatory towards them, and it can be a sport that’s attempting to make great change.”