Cricket Scotland chair Anjan Luthra resigns after criticism of organisation's handling of racism
Sportscotland said in a statement: "This has been an exceptionally challenging time for everyone involved in Scottish cricket and we would like to thank Anjan Luthra for his contribution as chair"; Luthra said he "fundamentally disagreed" with sportscotland in his resignation letter
Friday 31 March 2023 17:40, UK
Cricket Scotland chair Anjan Luthra has resigned after less than six months in the role.
Luthra confirmed his resignation in a post over Twitter on Friday morning, in which he said: "It's time the Scottish cricket community hears the truth".
The post also contained a picture of Luthra's resignation letter, with the former chair saying: "I fundamentally disagree with the way sportscotland is operating the sport.
"I believe their priority is to meet the demands of a lobby group and a handful of individuals associated with them - even if that means the wider sport and community will be negatively impacted."
A spokesperson for the funding body sportscotland said: "This has been an exceptionally challenging time for everyone involved in Scottish cricket and we would like to thank Anjan Luthra for his contribution as chair.
"We will take immediate steps to provide additional leadership and governance support to Cricket Scotland."
Luthra was appointed in October, tasked with rebuilding the organisation's reputation after it was found to be institutionally racist by an independent review released last July.
Cricket Scotland has again come under scrutiny after four members of its newly-formed anti-racism and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) advisory group resigned earlier this week due to the organisation's handling of tackling racism.
Luthra had given a six-month update last week saying progress had been made by the governing body, with those comments criticised by anti-racism group Running Out Racism.
It labelled Luthra's claims as "unsubstantiated nonsense" and said the update from Cricket Scotland was "tone deaf" and "arrogant".
On Friday, it issued another statement criticising Luthra as "not the right person to lead our sport" and the "lack of progress made".
Cricket Scotland also issued a statement later on Friday which read: "Cricket Scotland has been in constant contact with sportscotland throughout the day to put in place short-term measures to enable the governing body to continue delivering its programmes of work, and we are appreciative of their continued support.
"This includes progressing the appointments of a fixed-term head for the 'Changing The Boundaries' work and an interim chief executive officer. The cricket season is less than four weeks away and there is much to be done, and the team remain fully focused on delivery in all areas."
Aamer Anwar, the solicitor of Majid Haq and Qasim Sheikh, who spoke out over the racist abuse they suffered during their international careers with Scotland, said: "Majid Haq and Qasim Sheikh welcome today's resignation of the chair of Cricket Scotland, In the six months as chair, Mr Luthra met once with Qasim for 15 minutes online and never met with Majid Haq. They both believe he failed to deliver or engage with key stakeholders, victims and Run Out Racism.
"There has been a total failure to address the embarrassing fact that on Monday, four minority ethnic members of the Equality Diversity and Inclusion group chose to resign, including an Asian female member of the Scotland squad - Abtaha Maqsood."
Luthra: My mission and sportscotland's missions are misaligned
Speaking to Sky Sports News, Luthra said he resigned because he felt his mission as chair and sportscotland's mission were not aligned, adding that he has "grave concerns around objectivity".
"My mission and sportscotland's mission are misaligned. My mission has been to rebuild cricket holistically. I believe that sportscotland is not interested in this mission. I believe there are some huge concerns around the referral process and have grave concerns around the objectivity," he said.
"The lack of urgency and process is highly negligent. There is huge over-involvement from the lobby group and that has the potential for huge conflicts, something I fundamentally stand against. Sportscotland are blurring the lines and I think that is grossly unfair.
"I was filled with enthusiasm and I have been working incredibly hard with the team. We have some really amazing things. There was a lot more to come. Unfortunately, without sportscotland's support, this is not possible. I cannot stand by it, but it's very sad.
"It is in a very precarious position, and the ultimate loser is cricket in Scotland. Sportscotland have to look themselves in the mirror and make a drastic change. I will continue to have grave concerns about them."
'He probably isn't the right person'
Running Out Racism said: "We are disappointed the chair has felt the need to resign. We've been trying to open a dialogue since the poor communications of two weeks ago with others across cricket to help intervene and convince the chair to change approach. Many internally have tried to help with that, but it has fallen on deaf ears.
"People make mistakes, but to blame others rather than owning them in any way is disappointing. There is no mention or any acknowledgement of the significant lack of progress made, or the resignations that transpired as a result - many of which have no connection to the campaign, including a current national team player.
"But it also shows that he probably isn't the right person to lead our sport going forward. Key to resolving this situation is rebuilding trust, and strong consultation. Not just over stated PR messages that don't address the full truth of situations. This is just another example of trying to rewrite the narrative and ignoring the facts.
"There are a number of inaccuracies within his statement. Addressing them point by point in public is likely to inflame the situation. In the interests of the sport rebuilding, we will seek to address these directly with key people within the sport, and at sportscotland."
Sadiq: Cricket Scotland failed us
Scotland international Abtaha Maqsood, Running Out Racism's Raza Sadiq, businessman Imran Khan and academic Khadija Mohammed were those to step down from their positions on the anti-racism and EDI advisory group.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, Raza Sadiq spoke of what influenced his decision to resign.
"We don't want cricket to fail. That's why we were very keen [to be involved in the process]," Sadiq said. "They failed us.
"Cricket Scotland was expecting us to align with their rhetoric, rather than us critically question their action plan.
"The six-month review was basically the final straw for me to resign - because it was not based on the facts."
He added: "Once an institution has been declared as institutionally racist, you've got a clean slate to start with.
"They've failed in understanding how the racism manifested. They were not looking for genuine engagement.
"For that reason - if they're not learning, not listening - then they're not fit for purpose."
The full Cricket Scotland board stepped down prior to the publication of the independent report that found 448 instances of racism in the sport.
