Richard Whittam KC has been appointed as the inaugural chair of the Cricket Discipline Panel (CDP), a newly established independent tribunal that will adjudicate on regulatory breaches in English professional cricket. Whittam’s appointment, made by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) board for a four-year term, follows an open recruitment process.
Whittam, a 64-year-old specialist regulatory and criminal barrister, brings a wealth of experience in sports discipline to the role. He served as a deputy high court judge from 2016 to 2022 and was appointed as the Rugby Football Union’s Head of Independent Judiciary last year. Whittam has also chaired discipline, safeguarding, and appeal panels in rugby union since 2014 and is a member of the World Rugby and European Professional Club Rugby Judicial Panels.
As chair of the CDP, Whittam will preside over specific disciplinary cases and appoint other panel members with appropriate skills and diversity. The panel will consider cases brought before it by the Cricket Regulator, the body responsible for monitoring compliance with and enforcing adherence to the game’s regulations on behalf of the ECB.
The CDP’s primary function will be to adjudicate on breaches of the ECB’s Professional Conduct Regulations, but it will also handle cases related to other regulations, including the Anti-Corruption code, Player and Match Officials’ Minimum Standards, Cricket Playing Conditions, Bowling Review Regulations, Pitch Regulations, and Head Protector Regulations.
Whittam expressed his delight at being appointed to the role, emphasizing the importance of upholding the integrity of cricket through the enforcement of rules and regulations. ECB chair Richard Thompson praised Whittam’s background in law and sports discipline, describing him as the ideal person to lead the CDP.
The establishment of the CDP is a key recommendation from the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC), which published a damning report in June 2023 detailing structural inequalities across race, gender, and class in cricket in England and Wales. The Cricket Regulator was formed in 2023 to monitor compliance with and enforce adherence to the game’s regulations.
