Cricket Scotland partners with SACA to boost number of British Asian professional cricketers

The partnership with SACA, which was founded in England last year based on the PhD research of Tom Brown, will comprise two separate one-year pilot programmes

Nick Friend | 26/10/2022 at 13:44

Cricket Scotland has partnered with the South Asian Cricket Academy to tackle inequality within Scottish cricket and boost British Asian representation in the professional game.

The announcement of the partnership comes three months after the publication of an independent inquiry into racism in the game in Scotland, which highlighted 448 examples that demonstrated institutional racism.

That review followed allegations made by former Scotland internationals Majid Haq and Qasim Sheikh, who is one of the figures involved in the foundation of this project. Last month, Cricket Scotland set up an independent process for investigating complaints to emerge from the review, while three weeks ago Anjan Luthra was appointed as the governing body's new chair.

The partnership with SACA, which was founded in England last year based on the PhD research of Tom Brown, will comprise two separate one-year pilot programmes, with each designed to provide opportunities for British South Asian cricketers in Scotland's men's and women's pathways.

In England, the scheme has already seen several graduates earn trials with county second teams, while some – Kashif Ali, Andy Umeed and Zain-ul-Hassan – have signed professional deals with counties. Umeed, born in Glasgow, was in Scotland's youth system before ending up at Warwickshire. He joined Somerset last summer.

The partnership with Cricket Scotland has been developed by Brown alongside Sheikh and Toby Bailey, Cricket Scotland's interim head of performance.

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^{Qasim Sheikh is a former Scotland international (Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)}

"Since being approached by Toby Bailey last month I have been impressed with how quickly this partnership has developed and with how seriously Cricket Scotland is taking this opportunity to provide the South Asian players and coaches in Scotland the chance of becoming professionals within the elite game," said Brown.

"Hopefully this partnership will be a short-lived one for the right reasons, and that cricket in Scotland becomes an example on how to build inclusive talent systems."

The initiative, which is seeking British South Asians over the age of 16 who are eligible to represent Scotland, begins with trials for the men's programme late in 2022 followed by training from January, with fixtures from April. The women's equivalent is set to begin following the Under-19 World Cup in January.

Sheikh added: "SACA has proven its worth south of the border with three graduates receiving first-class contracts and also 16 players trialled at counties as well. I'm delighted to have played a small part in bringing this to Scotland, and I would like to thank Toby and his team at Cricket Scotland for exploring this opportunity with the enthusiasm they have.

"Whilst our game in Scotland makes the changes it needs to be equitable, this is an important short-term intervention to give greater opportunities to the many young talented minority ethnic Scottish cricketers."