The board of Cricket Scotland has resigned with immediate effect following an independent investigation into claims of institutional racism. The report is due to be released tomorrow (July 25).The independent review was brought in place after Scotland's leading wicket-taker Majid Haq alleged on Sky Sports in November 2021 that Cricket Scotland was "institutionally racist". All that followed Azeem Rafiq's allegations of racism during his days at the Yorkshire county.Cricket Scotland, in a media release, said that they "will work in partnership with sportscotland with immediate effect to ensure appropriate governance, leadership and support is in place for the organisation and the sport in the days ahead."In their resignation letter tendered to the Interim Chief Executive Officer this morning, the board of Cricket Scotland 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. 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."These two programmes of work, one to deliver a thorough, fair and speedy resolution to the issues raised about racism, and the other to overhaul and modernise the governance of the sport are individually huge challenges for a small organisation like Cricket Scotland. We acknowledge the significant support received from sportscotland to date, and we know that they will continue to work in partnership to ensure speedy progress going forward."However, while the Board has not been given sight of the review report, it is now aware of the proposed timescales and of certain mandated actions proposed within the report that it believes make the delivery of these two programmes unachievable within the timetable proposed and the current governance framework. Consequently, we believe we must now step aside to enable the required progress to be made in the coming months."The board had six members who stepped down.A spokesperson for SportScotland said: "This has been an exceptionally challenging time for everyone involved in Scottish cricket.
