Cricket Scotland: Institutional racism finding must lead to profound change – Angus Robertson MSP

In average times, there’s not a lot of coverage of cricket in Scotland.
After Scotland's all-time leading wicket-taker Majid Haq raised concerns about racism in cricket, he never played for his country again (Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA)After Scotland's all-time leading wicket-taker Majid Haq raised concerns about racism in cricket, he never played for his country again (Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA)
After Scotland's all-time leading wicket-taker Majid Haq raised concerns about racism in cricket, he never played for his country again (Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA)

Most people don’t even know it’s the second-most played team sport nationally, with 17,000 grassroots players putting it behind football, but ahead of rugby.

It remains one of my more unusual claims to fame that I played ‘top level’ cricket in my youth for the Grange Club in Stockbridge.

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In truth, this most likely meant languishing near the boundary at fine leg to keep out of trouble. However, I loved playing cricket, although wasn’t particularly keen facing the fast bowlers, many of whom were Scots Asian kids who were significantly more talented than I was.

The sport of cricket in Scotland has been rocked by the findings that it is institutionally racist. This follows allegations of racism and discrimination faced by players, including all-time leading wicket-taker Majid Haq who represented Scotland more than 200 times.

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Speaking to BBC Scotland, Haq said: “As an ethnic minority cricketer, you need to perform twice as well as a white counterpart to get the same opportunities.” After raising his concerns, he never played for Scotland again.

In the damning report about Cricket Scotland, it was concluded that people who did raise issues were ignored or side-lined and a culture of "racially aggravated micro-aggression" was allowed to develop. According to the review, a staggering 448 examples were found that demonstrated institutional racism.

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It will take a long time for Cricket Scotland to recover and totally change its ways, but change it must.

Angus Robertson is the SNP MSP for Edinburgh Central and Constitution, External Affairs and Culture Secretary

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