'Cricket Scotland allowed behaviours that were disrespectful, demeaning, and deeply concerning' - CEO Trudy Lindblade on damning discrimination report

Cricket Scotland was surprised by another report, which revealed sexism and discrimination against women in the sport. The reports were about an organization that has allowed prejudiced behaviours and insensitivity towards women.

The firm, McKinney HR, conducted the independent report commissioned by Cricket Scotland. It revealed evidence that female staff and players have been treated differently as compared to their male counterparts. Specific examples showed a lack of representation of women on committees and in leadership roles.

Moreover, some failures were revealed while properly considering and addressing the requirements of the women's game. While no current cases of full proof of prejudice were found, the report represents a "damning indictment" of the culture at Cricket Scotland, according to new CEO Trudy Lindblade. She acknowledged the organization had allowed "disrespectful, demeaning and deeply concerning" behaviours towards women for far too long.

"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. This is completely unacceptable, and I wholeheartedly apologize to every single person who was affected and let down by the governing body," Lindblade said while speaking BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme.

There has been significant change in leadership, everybody wants to move past this time: CEO Lindblade

Furthermore, Trudy Lindblade also hoped that the difficult findings would only allow Cricket Scotland to move ahead after a testing period citing recent changes in leadership and the overall management in the cricket board. In the aftermath, the report issued nine recommendations, including increasing investment in the women's game, establishing clear processes for reporting sexism and discrimination, and improving transparency around taking up complaints.

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"There has been a significant change in leadership and personnel. We have to be patient, but that's OK because we know where we want to go. Everybody wants to move past this time that we're going through. It's been a really difficult time, whether you're an employee playing on the weekends, or whether you're a member of a club or a committee. Everybody is ready to look forward and we all want to do that together," CEO Lindblade concluded.