Why the silence? I don’t know but Majid and Qasim deserve support
FORMER NATIONAL SKIPPER GEORGE SALMOND IS ONE OF THE FEW PLAYERS TO SPEAK OUT ON CRICKET SCOTLAND RACISM STORM
WHEN George Salmond called time on his international career in 2001, the former Scotland captain spent some time helping to nurture the next generation.
Coaching Scotland’s Under-17s cricket team, it was in this period that Salmond first encountered a young Qasim Sheikh.
‘I coached the Under-17s for a season,’ Salmond tells Sportsmail. ‘Qasim was playing in that team at the time.
‘You could see quite clearly the ability and talent he had. For someone of his ability, you would always hope that they would go on and play for the senior team.
‘Of that squad in the Under-17s, I think roughly half of the players were of an Asian background. Most of them were second or third generation Scots.
‘Qasim was a really talented player, a livewire kind of character who was a great personality around the dressing room. It was no surprise that he went on to play for Scotland.’
The only shame was that Sheikh did not play for Scotland anywhere near as often as he should have done. Likewise, Majid Haq.
Monday’s bombshell report into Cricket Scotland offered some insight into why that might have been the case.
Salmond retired just before both players made their breakthrough, something which makes his position on this all the more interesting.
Having long since left the Cricket Scotland scene, he now works as a schoolteacher after also serving as an SFA football referee for a while.
He is unfailingly modest and, in his own words, has no desire to be a ‘hero’ or an ‘important person’ in all of this.
But his voice is important. Why? Because he’s one of the very few former Scotland players who have reached out and shown their support to both Sheikh and Haq.
Sheikh name-checked Salmond on Monday and spoke warmly about the support that has been offered by him throughout the whole process.
The fact that he never actually even played with Sheikh or Haq then only amplifies the continued silence from all those who did play with them.
Haq was asked on Monday how many former team-mates had been in touch to offer support, and, specifically, how many were from a white, non-Asian background.
Shrugging his shoulders, he said with an air of resignation: ‘Not many. Probably just a couple.’
So why the silence? How can these two brave men continue to be shunned by people with whom they shared a dressing room for many years?
Haq took to social media last night, tweeting: ‘The deafening silence from a lot of them (former team-mates) speaks volumes.’
He also claimed that the Scotland team taking the knee at last year’s T20 World Cup was ‘virtue-signalling’ and a ‘box-ticking exercise’.
Haq told Sportsmail on Monday how a former team-mate had called him a p*** on a tour of Kenya in January 2007.
The team-mate also claimed at the time: ‘It’s like calling an Australian an Aussie or a New Zealander a Kiwi’.
Sheikh also tweeted that the team taking the knee seemed ‘very fake now’. He, too, has had very little support from former colleagues and team-mates.
For his part, Salmond can’t understand why there has been such a basic lack of support shown to both players over recent weeks and months.
He watched on TV on Monday afternoon as both players spoke in a powerful and emotional press conference.
‘I genuinely don’t know why (there’s been silence from others),’ he says. ‘It was heartbreaking to watch the press conference.
‘I can’t speak on behalf of other people. But it’s just the right and decent thing to do to get in touch with them. I would have liked to think that people would have picked the phone up. Whether it’s a phone call or a message or something just to get in contact.
‘They laid themselves pretty bare on national TV. I thought they handled everything exceptionally well. They deserve a bit of support.
‘I would have liked to have thought that there might be a little bit more support and team spirit (from former team-mates).
‘Even just on a human level, just recognise that these guys are going through a tough time. Support them.
‘It’s far from me to be an important person in all of this. I just want to be one of the many people who speak out in support. If there’s 5,000 people who play cricket in Scotland, I want to be one of those 5,000. The sport as a whole has to embark on a road to recovery and everyone will have a part to play.
‘Some people might need time to digest everything that has come to light. But, in time, I would hope they will speak to Qasim and Majid and offer their support, whether that’s privately or publicly.’
Salmond still plays at district league level. He is very much of the belief that everyone involved in playing cricket in Scotland now has a part to play moving forward.
There will be no quick fix in all of this. Monday’s report found 448 instances of institutional racism against Cricket Scotland.
They failed 29 of the 31 indicators of institutional racism. When a report is so utterly damning in its nature, there will be a long road to recovery.
‘We are talking about 448 incidents in this report that were of a racist nature,’ says Salmond. ‘There will also be an awful lot more that probably haven’t been reported as well.
‘It can’t be 448 cases of there being mitigating circumstances. It’s as conclusive a report as you’re ever likely to see. It has to be a wake-up call.
‘Nobody is going to be able to wave a magic wand and make all of this better.
‘But it’s incumbent on everyone who loves cricket, everyone who plays and everyone who officiates, we all have to do our own little bit to help.
‘Me saying a few words in support of Qasim and Majid was the very least I could do. That’s just one little thing, but you hope that others might follow suit.
‘What’s always struck me throughout all of this is how much pleasure I’ve got from playing cricket, making new friends and memories in the game.
‘The fact that Qasim, Majid and probably a lot of other people haven’t had that opportunity for as long as they should, it’s just really sad.’