A DAMNING review of Scottish cricket has found 'institutional racism' in its governing body.

The report, from independent experts, recommends Cricket Scotland is now placed in special measures until at least October next year.

It has also recommended a cricket club covering Glasgow, Western District Cricket Union (WDCU), to be placed in special measures immediately.

Cricket bosses praised those who came forward to share their stories and said the experience would have been "incredibly traumatic" for many.

Independent investigators Plan4Sport, Global Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) experts, published details of their findings this morning.

Of 31 "tests" used to measure the problem, the game's governing body failed 29 and only partially met the required standard on the remaining two.

The report, Changing the Boundaries, details how watchdogs found 448 indicators of institutional racism.

These relate to 31 allegations of racism against 15 different people, two clubs and one regional association. 

Referrals have been made to Police Scotland of hate crimes while 68 individual concerns have been referred for further investigation.

Managing director of Plan4Sport, Louise Tideswell, said: "We’ve been working on the review since January this year and our view is clear: the governance and leadership practices of Cricket Scotland have been institutionally racist.  

"Over the review period we have seen the bravery of so many people coming forward to share their stories which had clearly impacted on their lives. 

"People who have loved cricket and, despite the many knockbacks, continued to try and make progress, umpires who committed so many hours even though promotion never came, and players who saw or heard racism and hostility, but kept coming back to play."

Ms Tideswell went on to say that, while the governance was institutionally racist, cricket in Scotland is not.

She praised "outstanding clubs and individuals delivering local programmes". 

Plan4Sport's review process included almost 1000 direct engagements from a broad cross-section of all levels of Scottish cricket.

Other key findings include: 
•62% of all survey respondents had experienced, seen, or had reported to them incidents of racism, inequalities or discrimination. 
•A lack of any EDI or anti-racist training in place for board, staff, volunteers, players, coaches or umpires. 
•No consistent mechanism or process for handling racist incidents and people who did raise issues were sidelined or ignored. 
•A lack of diversity from board level and Hall of Fame right through the coaching workforce within the talent pathway.
•Lack of transparency in the selection process in the talent pathway and the absence of a single uniform approach to selection.

Changing The Boundaries makes three immediate high-level recommendations, including placing Cricket Scotland into special measures with Sportscotland until October 2023.

It says the diversity of board members should be a minimum of 40% men and 40% women, ensuring that a minimum of 25% of the total board makeup come from of black, South-East Asian, or other mixed or multiple ethnic groups.

WDCU should also be placed in special measures by Cricket Scotland with immediate effect with temporary and immediate suspension of WDCU’s role in managing all disciplinary matters relating to its competitions and clubs. 

An urgent, independent review into the overall effectiveness of WDCU’s governance, and its culture of inclusion, as a regional association of Cricket Scotland, to be completed by the end of September. 

Chief executive of sportscotland, Stewart Harris, added: “We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the review, particularly those who came forward to share their experiences. 

"This will have been a very difficult, and in some cases traumatic experience, and we hope this report provides the victims with some degree of assurance that their voices have been heard and that action will be taken. 

"The findings in this report are deeply concerning and in some cases shocking." 

Mr Harris added: "As the national agency for sport, we will work with and support Cricket Scotland to help change the culture of Scottish cricket and that must now be the focus. 

"Today should also act as a wake-up call for all of Scottish sport. 

"Racism is a societal problem and it is no longer good enough to simply be non-racist, Scottish sport must now be actively anti-racist."