Warwickshire say they will be the first county cricket team to use principles of the Rooney Rule as they start looking for a new first-team coach. The role is vacant after Jim Troughton's exit last Wednesday.
Warwickshire aim to "encourage applications from suitably qualified black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) candidates", they said in a statement. Surrey's Vikram Solanki is the only current BAME head coach working in first-class county cricket.
The Rooney Rule, named after NFL diversity committee chairman Dan Rooney, requires clubs in American football to interview at least one BAME candidate for each head coach or senior football operation vacancy.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) implemented it for all coaching roles in the national men's, women's and disabled teams in May 2018, but Warwickshire are believed to be the first to formally adopt it when recruiting for a similar post at county level.
The English Football League introduced the policy in June 2019, following an 18-month pilot, to apply to all first-team vacancies. The Premier League has not adopted it.
"There shouldn't be a barrier in the mind of anybody with the right experience who wants to apply for this job," Warwickshire chief executive Stuart Cain said.
"We think it's right to adopt the principle of the Rooney Rule in the same way as many of the world's leading sports organisations have.
"Birmingham is one of the UK's, if not Europe's, most diverse cities and we have to reflect this when holding a mirror up to the club and how we operate at every level, from the board down."
Warwickshire director of cricket Paul Farbrace will manage winter training until a new first-team coach is appointed.
Former captain and batsman Troughton, 42, had been appointed first-team coach in 2017 but left following a review of last season.
John Stephenson
john@cricketinvestor.co.uk
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