Trudy Lindblade, the CEO of Cricket Scotland, has expressed her disappointment regarding public comments made by John Blain, a former Scotland and Yorkshire bowler, following the conclusion of independent investigations into allegations of racist behaviour.
Blain recently claimed he had been “exonerated” of the allegations after sharing a letter from former Cricket Scotland CEO Peter Fitzboydon. However, on Tuesday, Blain pre-empted Cricket Scotland’s formal statement and threatened legal action against the board, accusing them of attempting to “rewrite history.”
Central to the dispute is a letter from Fitzboydon to Blain, dated January 12, which stated that the allegations of racism against Blain were “unfounded.” Cricket Scotland clarified in its recent statement that the allegations were not pursued further due to insufficient evidence, lack of an applicable rule at the time, and lack of jurisdictional authority.
Blain accused Cricket Scotland of trying to retract his exoneration and claimed Lindblade had confirmed his exoneration in a phone call in February. “Not only did Pete Fitzboydon, the CEO of Cricket Scotland, write to me in January to say that all of the claims against me were unfounded, that I had no case to answer, and my case was closed, but that position was clearly confirmed by his successor Trudy Lindblade in a phone call with me in February,” Blain stated.
Lindblade confirmed she made the call but refrained from detailing the conversation. She emphasized the importance of handling the matter privately with Blain and his legal representatives. “It’s disappointing to have such a personal comment made in a public space,” Lindblade said. “I had a conversation with John in the first weeks of starting in my role. It’s very disappointing that lines have been drawn. We can’t get into specific cases and it’s something that we should speak to John and his representatives directly.”
Since taking up her role, Lindblade has communicated with both complainants and the accused in the investigations. However, the confidentiality of the processes limited her ability to meet everyone involved.
Cricket Scotland’s statement revealed that of the 51 completed referrals, five proceeded to disciplinary processes. Most referrals, including Blain’s, did not meet the criteria to proceed further. Lindblade believes that the reforms Cricket Scotland has implemented since the “Changing the Boundaries” report are robust enough to handle any future allegations of racist behaviour.
“We have got really strong processes and procedures in place now,” she said. “We have overhauled our code of conduct, we have brought in a Conduct in Sport Manager with significant experience. We have put a number of things in place so, if this was to happen now, we would have a process that it would fit within, but the same principles apply. [If it’s] a rule breach, there needs to be clear evidence of what the rule is and then what the breach of that rule is.”
Lindblade hopes to move forward with a reconciliation process, including offers of mediation. “We’ve got to try and take what has been a really challenging time for everyone involved and look at the positives and what this period may actually do to the future of Scottish cricket,” she said. “Can we look at it from that perspective, and try to take what is a very difficult time and say, where could we get to in ten years’ time?”
Lindblade acknowledged that not everyone would be satisfied with the outcomes of the referrals process and future mediation. “There are no winners in this. This is really emotive. I think there will be relief. I think there will be anger. I think there will be emotions that are part of us all being human beings. We are talking about people here and people react to things differently because everyone’s different. It’s been very divisive. How do we find a way to get everybody back to make sure the future of Scottish cricket is bright and that’s going to take a really long time. So, anyone who expects that to take place in months, or even the next 12 months, it’s going to take much longer than that.”