Former Yorkshire and Scotland fast bowler John Blain has demanded a “full and transparent inquiry” into the nation’s cricket authorities after disclosing that, although being cleared of charges of racist behaviour in January, Cricket Scotland and sportscotland chose not to release their findings.
After being accused of using a racial epithet during a 2007 tour of Kenya by his former teammates Majid Haq and Qasim Sheikh, Blain played 118 matches for Scotland across all formats—was banned from the Cricket Scotland Hall of Fame.
Blain’s complaint was one of several that resulted from an independent study conducted in July 2022, which concluded that Cricket Scotland was an institutionally racist organization and forced the board to quit. However, the allegation has been dismissed after a year-long inquiry conducted collaboratively by two legal firms and the racial inclusion organization Sporting Equals. ESPNcricinfo understands that the great majority of the incidences identified will also have no case to answer.
Blain received a letter on January 12 from Pete Fitzboydon, the acting CEO of Cricket Scotland, confirming that the accusations against him were “unfounded” and that no further action would be taken. In order for the board to inform the complainants of the verdict, Blain was instructed to keep it secret at the time.
Nevertheless, he has now decided to go public with a harsh criticism of the procedure and his accusers after what he called “five months of delay and prevarication”. “To describe the way sportscotland and Cricket Scotland initially handled that report as a ‘kangaroo court’ is an insult to marsupials everywhere,” Blain said in an article on X/Twitter.
“It’s obvious to me that, rather than publish this very clear and detailed judgement which fully exonerates me, Cricket Scotland is once again running scared of the small “anti-racist” cabal which has exerted such a malign influence over our sport,” he continued. “My life has been on hold for too long and it’s time that the truth is finally told about one of the biggest sporting scandals of recent times.”
Blain addressed Majid and Qasim, whose testimony served as the foundation for the damning 2022 report “Changing the Boundaries” that resulted in the charges being brought. He expressed his shock that the two men would make “such false and disgraceful accusations” given that he had provided “considerable support during their careers” for both of them.
“If he truly believed I was a racist, why did Majid try so hard to persuade me to join his club, Clydesdale, as professional player-coach in 2015, eight years after he claimed I’d used a racist word, and also recommended me to a string of Asian players for one-to-one coaching,” said Blain.
“Likewise, if Qasim really believed I was a racist, why did he seek me out for one-to-one coaching in 2014 to help him regain his Scotland place – something I gladly did for free?”
Blain continued by saying that the investigation’s conclusions also questioned the validity of his ECB punishment, which was a warning and a £2,500 fine that the Cricket Discipline Commission had given in May 2023 in response to Azeem Rafiq’s evidence on his treatment at Yorkshire. Blain and five other ex-players from the team declined to take part in what he at the time called a “irredeemably flawed” procedure.
The former England captain Michael Vaughan was the only one to show up for the CDC hearings, where he was later found not guilty “on the balance of probabilities” of uttering a racist comment before to a Yorkshire T20 match in 2009.
“Crucially, the in-depth Scottish investigation did not accept Majid’s allegation that I had used the P-word during a tour to Kenya in 2007,” Blain said. “The England and Wales Cricket Board panel used the exact same accusation to bolster their decision to find me guilty.
“Majid’s bogus claim was a major factor in the ECB’s decision to find me guilty, which must now be considered dangerous. It was used to support Azeem Rafiq’s similarly false charge.
Even worse, the ECB tribunal declared that they had the right to assume that I lacked a response to the charges made against me as I had not participated in their faulty procedure. Their logic was sloppy, and they didn’t try to harmonize Majid’s story with the conflicting testimony of four other witnesses.”
An ECB representative retorted that Blain had been given every chance to defend himself during the hearings and that the CDC process had been “extensive and thorough”.
“After weighing all the evidence, including Mr. Blain’s defense and several supporting witness statements filed by him (through his then-legal team) before he withdrew from the process, the Cricket Discipline Commission upheld the charge against John Blain for using racist language at Yorkshire in or around 2010 and 2011.” He turned down the chance to personally defend himself in front of the commission.”
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