The 17th of November 2022 is etched into the books for ages to come as the landmark date sees the Scotland women’s cricket team today being offered paid contracts for the very first time as it walks in a step towards the women’s game being fully professional.
As the newly appointed chairman, Anjan Luthra, called the moment a “watershed” one, the decision isn’t the first big move in the nation’s women’s cricket history. Cricket Scotland had addressed a much bigger issue and initiated the historic call in awarding equal match fees to its men’s and women’s teams in 2021.
Chairman, Anjan Luthra, said, “This a watershed moment for the sport in Scotland. The investment is an important building block in our desire to make cricket in Scotland a fully inclusive sport where there is no place for racism, discrimination or inequalities.
“We have an opportunity to create a bold new vision for Scottish cricket. We are rebuilding capacity within the governing body and addressing the weaknesses and failings identified through the Changing the Boundaries report.”
The report mentioned just above dates back to late July 2022. The day in an absolute stunning move witnessed the entire Cricket Scotland board resign with immediate effect. The development had come on the back of a few allegations of institutional racism and interestingly before the release of the publication of the independent review.
JUST IN:
Paid Contracts will now be given to Scotland’s Female International Cricketers
Well done @CricketScotland 🙌😃#CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/BFylTNyqgt
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) November 17, 2022
Heading towards a change, a board media release read they have also made important initial steps to improve the governance and leadership of Cricket Scotland since the start of the year. Two programmes of work, one to deliver a thorough, fair and speedy resolution to the issues raised about racism, and the other to overhaul and modernise the governance of the sport are individually huge challenges for a small organisation like Cricket Scotland.
In October, when the governing body began its rebuilding process, Anjan Luthra was appointed as the chairman who is a Glasgow-born 31-year-old, famously known for running a London-based media company. Anjan will fill the role for two years and will lead the development of a five-year strategy.
Interim chief executive, Gordon Arthur is learnt to remain in position until November 2023 on a fixed-term contract, but a recruitment process for a permanent chief executive will take place next year.
Mr Gordon Arthur quoted, “We need to reset and rebuild to ensure we are in the strongest possible position to deliver real and meaningful change across Scottish cricket.
“This won’t be without challenges but we have a great opportunity to take the sport confidently forward. I understand this will be an uncertain period for many staff but we will do everything we can to support them.”
Scotland women’s team’s last game had come during the International Cricket Council (ICC) Twenty20 (T20) World Cup Qualifier that was hosted by the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) from the 18th to the 25th of September, 2022 at the Zayed International stadium and the Tolerance oval grounds in Abu Dhabi.
Scotland were a part of Group A and played games against Bangladesh, the United States of America and Ireland. Even to make it to the tournament, Scotland had to undergo the Europe qualifier.
Scotland only managed a win of their 3 games and in their last game of the tournament, the side contested in the 5th place playoff game, but went on to lose to Papua New Guinea in a stunning 8-wicket defeat.
(Quotes sourced from BBC Sports)
