Scotland’s national agency for sport, sportscotland, has today (Friday 30 September) published an interim update into the progress made by Cricket Scotland following an independent review into racism in Scottish cricket.
The Plan4Sport Changing The Boundaries report concluded that the governance and leadership practices of Cricket Scotland were institutionally racist. This followed an in-depth consultation process with close to 1,000 direct engagements from a broad cross-section of all levels of the sport in Scotland.
As part of the review Plan4Sport found 448 separate examples of institutional racism within the sport. Plan4Sport created a framework of 31 indicators of institutional racism with 29 failing to meet the standard.
Changing The Boundaries contained three immediate high-level recommendations, with associated sub-recommendations. Today’s interim update provides an overview of progress against each of the key recommendations, with sportscotland also committing to four further public updates over the next 12 months.
Please visit Changing The Boundaries immediate recommendations September progress update for details of progress to date.
Chief Operating Officer of sportscotland, Forbes Dunlop, said: “In the eight weeks since publication of the Changing The Boundaries report, Cricket Scotland has made progress in several areas. However, it is important that further progress is achieved over the coming months to deliver the cultural change that we all want to see in Scottish cricket.
“The significance of the Cricket Scotland Board appointments cannot be underestimated. The recruitment process for the independent chair and non-executive directors is ongoing and it is essential that Cricket Scotland appoints a diverse Board that has the skillset to take the sport forward. That will be an important step in demonstrating real and meaningful change.
“It is unacceptable that anyone has experienced racist abuse and discrimination while playing cricket, and where that has been the case, steps must be taken to address the past. Referrals made as part of the review are now being reviewed and where appropriate investigated as part of a fully independent and robust process.
“Today’s interim progress update and the associated Cricket Scotland short-term action plan must be followed up with robust actions and genuine cultural change within the sport. We will help Cricket Scotland to re-build while keeping all options on the table to ensure they deliver on all recommendations in the Changing The Boundaries report.”