Photo Credit: Cricket Scotland
Cricket Scotland has taken the decision to review both its existing committee structures and its codes of conduct in order to strengthen the organisation’s focus on and commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
The committee review will look at all committees that report into the governing body’s Board or Council. Their responsibilities, decision-making processes and membership will be examined to ensure transparency, accountability and representation are at their core and make it clear that racism, inequalities and discrimination will not be tolerated in the sport.
The committee review will seek to ensure that there is diversity and representation across all committee structures to reflect the full breadth of the Scottish cricket community, the criteria for committee nomination and selection is clear and transparent, and that all official policies and procedures are made publicly available.
The aim of the committee review is to help ensure more diversity in senior positions across the organisation, which is vital to creating an inclusive environment across the sport, and to help ensure the systems and decision-making processes in place within the sport do not discriminate against anyone on the grounds of their race, religion and belief, culture, ethnic origin, sex or gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic status or anything else.
Elsewhere, the current code of conduct for players and officials and the code of conduct for coaches will also be reviewed by Cricket Scotland. This will clearly outline the required standards, behaviour and practice, including verbal and non-verbal actions, expected of all those involved in the sport. It will also ensure individuals are appropriately held accountable for any misconduct and discriminatory behaviour both on and off field.
The codes of conduct review will also consider the resulting disciplinary process and the need for independent expertise to guide and support these procedures and protect all parties. Consideration will also be given to how jurisdiction is managed and the appeals processes.
Cricket Scotland will await recommendations from the independent review into racism in Scottish cricket – being undertaken by EDI specialists Plan4Sport and commissioned by the national agency for sport, sportscotland – before making any final decisions. Any guidance in this area from the independent review findings will be incorporated into Cricket Scotland’s review of both the committees and the codes of conducts and resulting changes in both of these areas.
Phil Yelland, President of Cricket Scotland said: “We want to become the most diverse sport in Scotland by creating a welcoming and safe environment for all groups and sections within society. We know that in order to do this, a number of things have to change and improve, including the governance structures, procedures and policies in place across the sport. We also want to make clear that there can be no place for racism, inequalities or discrimination in our sport and this is part of our work in this area.
“We recognise that diversity across different leadership positions is vital to creating inclusive environments. Decisions need to consider the impact on protected characteristics to ensure that there is no detrimental impact before being approved and this is an area we need to be more proactive in. This starts with committees and we want to get this work underway as soon as possible as a first step in this area.
“We also want to ensure we are clearing setting out how everyone in the sport is expected to treat one another so that our codes of conduct are explicitly anti-racist and are backed up by an objective disciplinary process.
“We know we need a comprehensive review of the structures in place to ensure the systems within cricket are fit for purpose and not discriminatory. We want to make sure we get this right, taking on the independent review’s recommendations in the process, so these reviews will be far-reaching processes taking place over several months. Over time we hope these changes will improve the sport and increase confidence among all those involved in cricket in Scotland.”
