Scottish Cricket Board resigns ahead of publication of ‘devastating’ racism report

The Scotland Cricket Board has resigned ahead of the publication of a review into institutional racism in the country’s sport.

In their joint resignation letter to interim chief executive Gordon Arthur, Cricket Scotland board members apologized for the culture they had witnessed and admitted the report’s findings would represent a “watershed moment for Scottish sport and society”.

“We are all truly sorry and have publicly apologized to anyone who has experienced racism or any other form of discrimination in cricket in Scotland,” the board wrote. “This is undoubtedly the start of another long journey to overhaul and modernize the governance of the sport to ensure its continued success in the years to come.”

Board members acknowledged SportScotland’s “significant support” in their bid to modernize the sport’s governance, but acknowledged that the “proposed timescales” and “some mandated actions” for change were not achievable within the existing governance framework.

“To provide a thorough, fair and speedy resolution to issues raised regarding racism and others [programme] overhauling and modernizing the governance of the sport are huge individual challenges for a small organization like Cricket Scotland.

“Therefore, we believe that we must now stand down to allow the necessary progress to be made in the coming months.”

The board said it had not yet seen the full contents of the report. However, Aamer Anwar, the lawyer representing Haq and Sheikh, said the findings were “devastating” and added in an interview with the BBC that he expected the change at the top to be just the beginning.

“Many that followed [Haq’s and Sheikh’s] steps complained of a culture of systemic harassment, of racism, of humiliation, and there was never any accountability and transparency,” Anwar said. “What about the selectors, what about some of the referees, what about the local boards leagues because it seems like if you’re a person of color, then you’re dealing with systemic racism.”

A Cricket Scotland spokesman said: “This has been an extremely challenging time for everyone involved in Scottish cricket.

“We have notified the board of the decision and, as the sport’s national agency, we will take immediate steps to provide significant additional governance and leadership support to Cricket Scotland.”