Cricket Scotland board resigns ahead of report into racism

A statement from Cricket Scotland said that it would work with Sport Scotland "to ensure appropriate governance, leadership and support is in place for the organisation and the sport in the days ahead"

Cricket Scotland's board has resigned with immediate effect ahead of the release of a review into racism in the sport.

The report, which is due to be published on Monday, follows multiple allegations of racism and discrimination across the game in Scotland.

Accusations made last November by former Scotland off-spinner Majid Haq, the country's leading wicket-taker, and teammate Qasim Sheikh led to several other players and coaches coming forward to share similar experiences, with an independent review subsequently called for.

A statement from Cricket Scotland said that it would work with Sport Scotland "to ensure appropriate governance, leadership and support is in place for the organisation and the sport in the days ahead".

A letter of resignation was sent from the 14-member board to interim chief executive Gordon Arthur, who was only appointed less than a fortnight ago to "lead the governing body through the publication of the independent review into racism".

They wrote: "When the review into racism in Scottish cricket was announced last year we were fully supportive of the review. The review has achieved an unparalleled level of engagement and we believe it will be truly transformative, not just for Cricket Scotland and the sport of cricket, but it will provide a watershed moment for Scottish sport and society in general.

^{Allegations made by Majid Haq eventually led to an independent review (Matt King/Getty Images)}

"The board have been totally committed to implementing the findings of this review in full to make the sport of cricket in Scotland a truly welcoming and inclusive place for all. 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 has also made important initial steps to improve the governance and leadership of Cricket Scotland since the start of the year. 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 letter added that while the board had not seen the contents of the report, "it is now aware of the proposed timescales and of certain mandated actions propsed within the report that it believes make the delivery of these two programmes unachievable within the timetable proposed and the current governance framework".

They added: "Consequently, we believe we must now step aside to enable the required progress to be made in the coming months."

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