LET’S BRING BIG CHANGES

Scotland captain vows to help Haq and Sheikh fight scourge of racism

SCOTLAND captain Richie Berrington met with former team-mates Majid Haq and Qasim Sheikh last night and offered to do all he can to help the pair bring about a new era of Scottish cricket.

It was whistleblowers Haq and Sheikh whose allegations led to a seven-month investigation into Cricket Scotland, with the governing body eventually found to be ‘institutionally racist’ in a damning 52-page report.

Haq and Sheikh were back at the home of Scottish cricket yesterday along with their lawyer, Aamer Anwar, to take in Scotland’s opening T20 defeat to New Zealand.

There they met with Gordon Arthur, the interim Cricket Scotland chief executive, and then Berrington and head coach Shane Burger once play was concluded.

Sheikh had felt that the current playing squad had not been sufficiently forthcoming in their support of the campaign to stamp out racism and Berrington vowed to do better.

‘I’ve spoken to Qasim recently and they’re down at the game today and we got a chance to speak to them all afterwards,’ he said. ‘They’ve gone through an extremely difficult time and there’s a lot of emotion around.

‘We fully support the changes that have to be made and we’ll do everything we can to play a part in that, on and off the field. There’s no place for racism and discrimination in our sport.

‘We need to use our voice as role models and we will do that and play a part as much as we can. There’s no place for that in our sport.

‘Cricket was very much the focus today. But we know that it’s an extremely difficult and challenging time for our sport right now.

‘There’s a lot of important change that needs to happen off the field which is something we fully support so we can have an inclusive sport for everyone.

‘The findings of the report came as a bit of a shock. We fully support the recommendations that have been put in place. For me, it’s about trying to learn as much as we can from this to try to make things better moving forward.’

Sheikh revealed that head coach Burger had taken time out of his preparations to put in a phone call to welcome him to The Grange and to support the ongoing fight.

‘I’ve got a good relationship with Shane,’ he revealed. ‘I think he’s an honourable man and he proved that to me this morning by calling and saying he hopes to welcome us to the ground. That meant a lot to me.

‘It’s a big Test-playing nation visiting Edinburgh today and he took that time to make that phone call. These are the kinds of things I feel are important.’

Burger explained the reason for the phone call. ‘I just thought they’d obviously gone through a lot, not just them but many other people. I’m not here to judge what is right or wrong,’ he said.

‘I’ve not been privy to conversations that happened in the past. All I know is that we all need to get better. We would all like to do this together. It’s not only Qasim. There are many other victims who have fallen foul of what’s happened.

‘For me to pick up the phone was my decision as I knew they were going to be here today. I just wanted to thank them for coming here to support us. That’s the only way we get better and heal from this. I want to wear this badge with pride and I’m sure the players do, too.

‘Given my background growing up in South Africa and having dealt with a lot of this in the past, it is not a great place to be. The key for me is that we learn from it and that we put systems in place so that people can play the game from all backgrounds and all walks of life.’

Sheikh admitted speaking out at Monday’s press conference following the publication of the report was one of the most traumatic events of his life.

‘I lost my younger brother when I was 13 years old,’ he added. ‘Attending his funeral is probably going to be the toughest day of my life. And that’s followed closely by going out in front of the national press. I wasn’t speaking about something particularly positive. It wasn’t a celebration. It was a dark watershed moment for the sport. And not just in cricket. But I think this is a pivotal moment in Scottish sport.’

Stand-in Cricket Scotland chief executive Arthur, meanwhile, had ‘very constructive’ meetings with Haq and Sheikh.

‘He has had a very constructive discussion about resolving the issues that have come out of the review into racism, and has apologised for the time it has taken to get to this stage and the impact it has had on them and their families,’ said a Cricket Scotland spokesperson.

‘They have agreed to meet within the next week and have a shared commitment to ensure cricket in Scotland is a truly welcoming sport with equal opportunities for everyone.’

Anwar, the lawyer representing Haq and Sheikh, revealed he had been ‘flooded’ by more complaints.

He told STV: ‘We have been flooded with individuals contacting my office to complain about their sports, about what’s happening, about the lack of diversity, the lack of diversity on the boards, the lack of diversity in the coaches, the lack of diversity in terms of selection.

‘These are all-white institutions that are operating and it needs to change.’