Cricket Scotland welcomes today’s publishing of the Governance Review, authored by Harper Macleod LLP, which outlines the company’s future board structure and direction.

It forms a cornerstone of the Action Plan drawn up following the publication of the “Changing The Boundaries” report, which concluded that the governance and leadership practices of Cricket Scotland were institutionally racist.

The Governance Review can be found here.

As yet WDCU have had no further update from Cricket Scotland or Harper Macleod regarding our position. Therefore, “special measures” remain in place only for the disciplinary and appeals process which will continue to see any disciplinary and appeals dealt with by Cricket Scotland.

Cricket Scotland today announces that Gordon Arthur is stepping down from his role as Interim Chief Executive for personal reasons, and will leave his position at the end of April.

GORDON ARTHUR TO STEP DOWN AS CRICKET SCOTLAND INTERIM CHIEF EXECUTIVE – Cricket Scotland

The WDCU held a meeting of all its Committees and Disciplinary & Appeals Panel last night to discuss the Plan4Sport “Changing the Boundaries” review (the “Review“).  The meeting was held as soon as practicable after the publication of the Review.

The WDCU thanks everyone who came forward to share their experiences of racism in the game in the west of Scotland, and sincerely, and unreservedly, apologises to everyone who has experienced racism, or other forms of discrimination, during their involvement with cricket in WDCU competitions, and at WDCU member clubs.  The WDCU welcomes that the Review has brought into focus players’, officials’, and administrators’ experience of racism in our game.  The only appropriate response is to take on board the recommendations of the Review, and work to ensure that cricket in the west of Scotland is run, and managed, in an effective, actively anti-racist, way that allows the sport, and its administration, to reflect the wide diversity of the playing population.

The WDCU fully accepts the findings of the Review, which is the first stage in the process, and will now engage with sportscotland and Cricket Scotland in the next phase to implement fully the Review’s recommendations.

The WDCU is dismayed by the Review’s finding that there was “little confidence in the WDCU’s ability to manage cases of racism fairly and transparently”, but fully accepts, and respects, that finding.  The finding demonstrates a lack of confidence in the current WDCU leadership, and effectively revokes the mandate given to WDCU office bearers when they were last elected.

The WDCU Committees and Disciplinary & Appeals Panel Panel wholeheartedly endorse the need to allow our member clubs to establish leadership in which they have confidence by facilitating whatever changes in leadership they, acting on behalf of their memberships, desire.  To this end, the Committees unanimously agreed that all office bearers and committee members will step down from their positions at the earliest practicable opportunity.  In practical terms, this means that:

• Those whose function is suspended (the Disciplinary & Appeals Committee, and Panel), and any others who can practicably do so, will step down immediately.
• To ensure that the WDCU continues to function, the remaining office bearers, and committee members, will continue to serve in the meantime until an EGM can be held in line with the WDCU Constitution.

All involved recognise, and applaud, the bravery of those who have stepped forward to share their experiences of racism in our game, and acknowledge the damage racism causes to its victims, sport, and society in general.  The WDCU is committed to working for, and with, its membership in any way necessary to ensure that the bad experiences of the past are not repeated in the future.

The Executive and Committees of the WDCU
27 July 2022

The final of the Rowan Cup was held at Meikleriggs on Wednesday night where 2021 winners Ferguslie won a closely fought encounter with Glasgow rivals Clydesdale.

In a game that fluctuated several times Ferguslie who had posted a first innings total of 137 all out thanks mainly to contributions of 40 from Taimoor Ahmad and 33 from Haroon Tahir held off a spirited challenge from Clydesdale CC who had bowled and fielded well. Pick of the ‘Dale’ attack was Akram Shakhoor with the splendid figures of 4 overs 3 for 21. Special mention should be made of a terrific running catch by Paddy Barbour, the Clydesdale skipper to remove the dangerous David Stafford.

The Clydesdale reply got off to a slow start with Ferguslie claiming two early wickets but a solid partnership between Fazal Jawad (46) and Craig Young (33) looked to be steering Clydesdale to victory. However the introduction to the Ferguslie bowling attack of teenage off spinner Qasim Khan with three timely wickets swung the game in Ferguslies’ favour. A late flourish from Saif Sajjad 22 just failed to carry Clydesdale to victory as the innings concluded at 130 for 8. Other Ferguslie bowlers who impacted the game were Taimoor Ahmad with 3 overs 2 for 18, and the winning skipper Haroon Tahir with 4 overs 2 for 18.

WDCU would like to thank CSMOA umpires Craig MacDonell and Iain McDonald for officiating the game splendidly.

Finally thanks to Ferguslie for hosting the final (and providing the weather), and the WDCU wishes the team good fortune at the National T20 Finals Day to be held at Stirling CC this Sunday.

The winning team photo’ courtesy of Bill Wilson

Please see the link below to the most recent edition of DLS. Could all clubs please ensure that they are using this for all competitive games.

International Cricket Council (icc-cricket.com)

Please see below the most recent COVID-19 update from Cricket Scotland.  More information to follow shortly from the WDCU.

Cricket Scotland update on cricket activity in Scotland, 18 June 2020

The Saturday League fixtures have now been issued. As ever, there have been some significant challenges in compiling these, including the spread of different sides across divisions, ground availability and the CS play off date for Premiership. My thanks to Iain Kennedy our Administrator, and supporting committee members for the work involved in doing this. I note below some key points in relation to the fixture list.
The priority has been to play as many of the fixtures on Saturdays as possible, and moving games to a Sunday has only been done as a last resort.

We have used 20 weekends between late April and end August to maximise Saturday games. In particular, Division 1 is starting and finishing a week later than the Premier League, due to ground availability issues in late April. One Premier Reserve Division game is being played on the 20th of April. Some Division 4 fixtures will also be on 31st August. This is quite similar dates to many previous seasons. The Premier League has to start and finish earlier due to the very early date of the CS play off this year.

One result of this is that there are some sequences of home or away fixtures, and also occasional Saturdays when some clubs will have both teams away from home. This is an unavoidable consequence of the constraints noted above. We have tried to minimise this.
On a positive note, West of Scotland CC have entered a 3rd XI to the Saturday League this season, and Hamilton Crescent will be participating in Division 4. Thanks to Stirling County for their willingness to make their second ground available to them and to East Renfrewshire pending completion of their new square.

As there are a few cases where lower XIs of a club will be playing on a date when a higher XI is not, we would like to remind clubs of what is expected here. Clubs should not be selecting players from a higher XI which has played the day before, and the playing regulations will be amended to reflect that this year. Similarly, for those fixtures on 31st August, particularly the Premier Reserve League, the CMC do not expect to see selections which abuse the spirit of cricket or the rules of our competitions by selection of players from a higher team. Whilst some allowance can be made for form, availability and injury, the CMC will monitor team selections in these cases and take action where they consider a club has not made a ‘bona fide’ selection. If in doubt, clubs should consult the Administrator in advance.’

Duncan Paterson, Chair CMC.

Sat League Fixtures 2019 Final AM aligned

To celebrate a successful 2018 season, the Cricket Scotland Awards Dinner takes place at the Crowne Plaza, Glasgow on Friday 8th March.
The evening will start with a welcome drink and the opportunity to meet Scotland’s international male and female players, followed by a 3 course dinner, main speaker and the annual international player and club awards presentation.

Evening Details
6.30pm: Drinks reception
7.00pm: Welcome from our MC and dinner in the main suite
9.00pm: Guest speaker
9.30pm: International player and club awards
11.00pm: Closing words from our MC
11.45pm: Last orders
Dress code: Smart and Scottish
Individual tickets are priced at £47 or a table of 10 for £430.
Sponsors table available – contact commercial@cricketscotland.com

Please go to the Cricket Scotland website to book your individual tickets