The England and Wales Cricket Board’s child protection policies are likely to come under close scrutiny after it emerged a convicted child sex offender worked at a schools cricket association with written permission from the ECB – and also attended junior cricket festivals in the company of an ECB executive.

The trial of Wasim Aslam for breach of a barring order forbidding him from coming into contact with children was dropped this month when the CPS withdrew its prosecution after deciding to offer no evidence. Aslam, who was previously known as Wasim Majid, had been imprisoned for four years in 2004 after being convicted of indecent assault on two boys while working as a teacher. At the time he was described by the trial judge as “posing a significant amount of risk” to children.

Despite this, and despite the ECB being aware of his conviction, correspondence seen by the Guardian shows Aslam was deemed a suitable person under current ECB guidelines to work as fixtures secretary at the prestigious London Schools Cricket Association, a charity concerned solely with promoting children’s cricket.

London Schools has an illustrious history, with Denis Compton, Graham Gooch, Alastair Cook and Eoin Morgan among its former players. Aslam had been a coach there before his conviction, though there is no suggestion he committed any offences at the club. In 2012 he returned as fixtures secretary.

In December 2014 the ECB’s child welfare Referral Management Group reviewed Aslam’s case having been made aware of his presence at the LSCA. It was at this point the ECB granted Aslam permission to continue in the role, with the condition he did nothing at the schools‑based cricket body that brought him into contact with children.

Aslam went on to break the ECB’s condition, attending a series of junior age group cricket festivals featuring among others, county age group teams from Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. The collapsed trial related to his presence last summer at a festival at Oundle School. A tip-off from a concerned parent in September 2016 led to newspaper reports and from there a police investigation.

The LSCA has since been widely criticised for using Aslam even in an administrative role. In the past few weeks the LSCA chairman and its president, John Barclay, a former MCC chairman, have both left their posts in an attempt to offer coaches, players and parents a fresh start.

A charitable volunteer organisation devoted to spreading cricket in the inner city, the LSCA continues to carry all the blame for Aslam’s presence. Some counties refused to engage over the winter with its now reconfigured executive.

However, correspondence seen by the Guardian shows Aslam was working at the LSCA with the explicit written approval of the ECB’s child protection committee, permission that was shared with LSCA officials and taken as a rubber stamp for his presence.

An ECB letter addressed to Aslam on 5 December 2014 acknowledges “in 2003 you were convicted of indecent assault of two boys”. It also states: “On 3 December 2014 the ECB RMG meeting convened in order to discuss and review information that may have implications in terms of safeguarding children in cricket. The RMG’s role is to consider … the ECB’s duty of care to all children in cricket.”

The letter concludes that it would be acceptable for Aslam to work as fixtures secretary at an organisation that takes boys on trust from schools, counties and clubs.

In an odd twist Aslam had been assisted at the junior age group festivals by an ECB executive. Nick Cousins, senior executive of the ECB young scorers and umpires association, is listed in the brochure from the 2015 U-12 Oundle festival as “Nick Cousins (ECB)” just below Aslam at the top of the organisers’ credits.

In a further coincidence Cousins was also a coach at London Schools in the late 1990s at the same time as Aslam. However, Cousins told the Guardian he had no recollection of ever meeting Aslam before 2012, despite managing an age group team at the association simultaneously.

Shown a 2011 email from his ECB account that begins “Hi Waz, long time no see”, Cousins re-stated that he had no memory of meeting Aslam and that this was likely to be a polite response to a prior telephone inquiry. Cousins also stated that he had no knowledge of Aslam’s conviction when he worked with him on junior age group cricket festivals and therefore had no cause to report his presence to the ECB’s child welfare officers.

Aslam’s trial, which took place after Cousins had left the LSCA, was widely reported at the time and became something of a cause célèbre before his conviction as he maintained his innocence.

To its credit the ECB is widely acknowledged to have been rigorous in its child protection policies, introducing the Safe Hands procedure now adopted by many clubs.

In a statement an ECB spokesperson said: “The England and Wales Cricket Board is totally committed to ensuring a safe environment in the game for everyone. We have clear and well-established safeguarding policies and procedures that are continually checked and challenged to ensure they are robust.

“At no time did ECB authorise the individual to work directly with children and during the investigation additional steps were taken to ensure that could not happen.

“Nevertheless there are always important learnings to be taken. While we made it clear to the LSCA that the individual must not undertake any role that involves contact with children, stated this directly to the individual and liaised with the appropriate authorities, the restrictions we put in place were not properly adhered to.”

The ECB told the Guardian that in response to the Aslam case it would be increasing its focus and resources in this area: “We have looked further at the way we audit the management of such cases and, as part of our ongoing efforts to ensure our safeguarding work is as strong as possible, have recently increased the resource on this within the ECB safeguarding team.”

In spite of this questions will still be asked at a time when sport and child welfare has become a wider societal issue. One issue of concern lies in the highly specific background checks requirement. Currently the ECB issues a list of job descriptions that require a Disclosure and Barring Service check, along with a list of those that do not. The non-vetted roles include club chairman, fixtures secretary, barman and groundsman, providing these roles do not involve contact with children.

This leaves obvious loopholes, just as in practice very few roles in a cricket club with a colts section do not involve contact with children. The cost and convenience of restricting those who require a DBS check to a lower standard than, for example, a school, must now be measured against the fact it has been possible for a child sex offender to work at a schools cricket organisation with full ECB approval.