Cricket Scotland has landed in the soup after the publication of the McKinney Report as it raises big question marks over the attitude of the administrative body towards its female staff and players.
A renowned Scottish firm has carried out the 35-page McKinney Report which comes into the picture almost two years after Cricket Scotland emerged as "institutionally racist" by another independent report, run by Plan4Sport, named "Changing The Boundaries".
The McKinney Report casts worrying shadows over the functioning of Cricket Scotland as an organisation and claims that it has been adopting a "high degree of prejudice towards female staff and players". The report considers six major themes i.e. culture and inclusion, leadership, general behaviours employment practices and wellbeing, psychological safety and sexism and misogyny.
Trudy Lindblade, Cricket Scotland's CEO, has expressed deep concerns over the attitude prevalent in the organisation and also apologised "to every single person who was affected and let down by the governing body".
"This report is a damning indictment of the treatment of female players and staff within our organisation. It is evident that Cricket Scotland allowed behaviours to take place that were disrespectful, demeaning and deeply concerning, and that these were allowed to continue for a significant period," Lindblade said in a statement released by Cricket Scotland.
"This is completely unacceptable, and I wholeheartedly apologise to every single person who was affected and let down by the governing body.
"This report also highlights the huge amount of work that we need to do throughout cricket in Scotland to improve the standing of women and girls within our sport," her statement read.
Lindblade has revealed that Cricket Scotland has already started implementing some of the recommendations of the McKinney Report and is "committed to making the governing body and our sport welcoming and safe for all women and girls".
"We are committed to making the governing body and our sport welcoming and safe for all women and girls, and together with our regional associations and clubs we will work collectively to ensure there is no place for misogyny, sexism, or discrimination of any kind within our sport. Our new strategy, which is to be released shortly, will put the health and growth of women and girls’ cricket at its forefront.
"Several of the recommendations from the McKinney Report are already underway, but there is still a significant amount of work to be done by Cricket Scotland, our regions, and our clubs to affect the change that is needed.
"Cricket Scotland now has a robust disciplinary and complaints process in place, and I would strongly urge anyone who has been affected by the findings of the report and who feels they need to raise a complaint to use this process. These recently established processes demonstrate that Cricket Scotland is capable of handling matters in a transparent and considered manner."
