Cricket Scotland’s board of directors resign after Racism Report

On the eve of the publication of a review into institutional racism in the nation’s sport, the board of Cricket Scotland has resigned. The investigation, which SportScotland commissioned, is scheduled to be released on Monday. It was prompted by accusations made by Majid Haq, a former bowler for Scotland who was kicked out of the 2015 World Cup and never played again. Later, Haq claimed he had been victimised because of his race.

The report’s findings are anticipated to support Haq’s and his former teammate Qasim Sheikh’s claims that they both endured abuse over the course of their careers, in a situation comparable to that of Azeem Rafiq, a former Yorkshire cricketer who last year testified before a parliamentary hearing that English cricket was institutionally racist.

The board members of Cricket Scotland expressed regret for the culture they had fostered in their joint resignation letter to interim CEO Gordon Arthur, and they agreed that the report’s conclusions would be a “watershed moment for Scottish sport and society.”

“We are all truly sorry and have apologised publicly to everyone who has experienced racism, or any other form of discrimination, in cricket in Scotland,” the board wrote. “This is, without doubt, the start of another long journey to overhaul and modernise the governance of the sport to ensure its continued success in the years ahead.”

The board members recognised SportScotland’s “substantial support” in their effort to modernise the sport’s governance, but they also noted that the “suggested timeframes” and “certain necessary activities” for reform were not realistic within the current governance structure.

“To deliver a thorough, fair and speedy resolution to the issues raised about racism, and the other [programme] to overhaul and modernise the governance of the sport are individually huge challenges for a small organisation like Cricket Scotland. Consequently, we believe we must now step aside to enable the required progress to be made in the coming months.”

The board claimed that it had not yet read the report in its entirety. The attorney for Haq and Sheikh, Aamer Anwar, called its conclusions “devastating,” and he added in a BBC interview that he anticipated the change at the top to be just the beginning.

A spokesperson for Cricket Scotland said: “This has been an exceptionally challenging time for everyone involved in Scottish cricket. We have been made aware of the board’s decision and as the national agency for sport, we will take immediate steps to provide significant additional governance and leadership support to Cricket Scotland.”