CRICKET Scotland has welcomed the move by sportscotland, the country’s national agency for sport, to carry out an independent review into racism within the Scottish game.
Scotland players Majid Haq and Qasim Sheikh have described Cricket Scotland as “institutionally racist” and called for an investigation.
Haq, Scotland’s all-time leading wicket-taker, was sent home from the 2015 World Cup after sending a tweet implying he had been dropped for a match against Sri Lanka for race-related reasons.
In the wake of the racism crisis in English country cricket the England and Wales Cricket board published a 12-point, game-wide action plan to tackle racism and all forms of discrimination.
READ MORE: Morton player 'racially abused' by own fans as club launch probe
Cricket Scotland has held talks in recent weeks with sportscotland, which will now appoint a team of independent experts to lead the review to “ensure that lessons are learned and that action is taken to address the issues facing the sport”.
Cricket Scotland president Sue Strachan said: “We have reached out to sportscotland for their help and support to investigate any evidence of racism in cricket in Scotland.
“We are grateful to sportscotland for commissioning this wide-ranging independent review of racism within the sport that we love.
“The boards of Cricket Scotland, in association with the regional associations, the Scottish Cricketers’ Association and the Cricket Scotland Match Officials Association, will engage fully with the independent review and have committed to acting upon any recommendations made as a result of its findings.
“We want to ensure that going forward there is no place for racism within cricket in Scotland.”
The full scope of the review will be confirmed publicly by sportscotland within the next seven days and will provide “individuals with lived experience of racism with a safe space in which to share their experiences, with guaranteed anonymity”.
Sportscotland chief executive Stewart Harris, said: “There can be no place for racism or discrimination of any kind in sport and it is vital that all complaints of this nature are robustly investigated.
READ MORE: This one key move would spur more sporting glory for Scots
"That must always be the starting point when we are talking about racism and racial inequalities.
“It is clear that steps must be taken to address the problem of racism within cricket in Scotland.
“We must listen to the very real concerns that have and will continue to be raised as part of this wholly independent process, but more than that, we must also act on these and start to rebuild trust.
“This will not be easy and it will take time. However, as the national agency for sport we will do what is required to effect positive change wherever it is needed in Scottish cricket.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here