SCOTLAND captain Richie Berrington met with former team-mates Majid Haq and Qasim Sheikh last night and promised to help them usher in a new era of inclusivity in Scottish cricket.
Berrington caught up with the pair – whose revelations brought about the recent investigation into Cricket Scotland – following his side’s 68-run defeat to New Zealand in the opening T20 contest at the Grange.
Both Haq and Sheikh have been critical of the Scotland team for not using their voices more 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 Shane Burger, the Scotland head coach, had phoned him yesterday morning to lend his support.
The former batter said: “I’ve got a good relationship with Shane. 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.”
Burger explained: “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. 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. 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.”
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.”
