John Blain hits out at BBC over Qasim Sheikh role and demands Cricket Scotland inquiry

Former cricket player John Blain has hit out at the BBC’s alleged double standards in continuing to employ Qasim Sheikh and called on the ECB to reconsider their “unsafe” verdict in their case against him after Cricket Scotland cleared him of racism allegations.

Blain, who represented Scotland as a fast bowler between 1999 and 2009, has revealed he was informed by Cricket Scotland (CS) in January that he had no case to answer following an investigation into allegations of racism against him by two former players, Sheikh and Majid Haq.

Blain had been accused of using a racist slur “p---” on a Scotland tour of Kenya in 2007, and was subsequently suspended from the CS Hall of Fame.

He was initially asked to keep the news that the allegations had proven “unfounded” confidential. But five months of “delays and prevarication” later, Cricket Scotland have not made the findings of the year-long investigation public, carried out jointly by two law firms and Sporting Equals, the race inclusion charity, so Blain has called for a “full and transparent inquiry” into Cricket Scotland and Sportscotland.

“To describe the way Sportsscotland and Cricket Scotland initially handled that report as a ‘kangaroo court’ is an insult to marsupials everywhere,” wrote Blain in a statement.

“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.

“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 said he had been “the victim of a cynical and highly effective smear campaign” and had lost various jobs. “My house requires regular police surveillance, my children have also been targeted and the health of close family members has suffered due to the prolonged period of intense stress,” he added.

BBC accused of ‘monumental double standards’

Blain questioned whether the BBC would continue to employ Sheikh, who as recently as Sunday has been working for Test Match Special as a commentator on Scotland matches at the T20 World Cup.

The BBC has already been accused of a “monumental double standard” for employing Sheikh in an open letter signed by more than 100 Jewish figures in the media and entertainment industry after he shared an image on social media earlier this year which depicted prime minister Rishi Sunak and other world leaders with Hitler moustaches, and was captioned: “Kids Killer Union.”

“I also note that Qasim has very recently been employed as a sports commentator by the BBC, ironically the same broadcaster which removed me from my longstanding cricket commentating role when these false allegations surfaced,” he wrote. “It will be revealing to see what action, if any, the BBC takes in light of this definitive verdict. For the record, I would be very happy to resume my duties with them.”

‘Unjust verdict’

Blain added that his exoneration by the Scottish investigation “fatally undermines” the ECB process that upheld allegations of racism against him by Azeem Rafiq while he worked at Yorkshire. Last year a Cricket Discipline Commission hearing used evidence from Haq – who it found “credible and reliable” – when upholding allegations against Blain, leading to a fine of £2,500 and a reprimand.

Blain and five others had refused to cooperate with the process, which he described at the time as “irredeemably flawed”. Only Michael Vaughan cooperated, and he was cleared “on the balance of probabilities” of making a racist remark 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,” wrote Blain. “That’s the exact same allegation the England and Wales Cricket Board panel used to support their finding against me. Majid’s false allegation was used as corroboration of Azeem Rafiq’s equally untrue allegation and was central to the ECB verdict against me, which must now be deemed unsafe.

“What’s worse, the ECB tribunal stated that because I had not engaged with their flawed process, they were entitled to conclude that I had no answer to the allegations against me. The ECB failed to take proper account of clear evidence from four different players - who each provided sworn statements that the incident had not occurred – saying their evidence was “untested”, despite the fact that Majid’s account was also completely untested. Their reasoning was lazy and made no attempt to reconcile Majid’s account with the contradictory evidence of four other witnesses.

“The fact that the year-long Scottish investigation has completely exonerated me fatally undermines the ECB process and must force them to reconsider their unjust verdict and clear my name.”

In response, an ECB spokesperson said: ”The Cricket Discipline Commission upheld the charge against John Blain for using racist language at Yorkshire in or around 2010 and 2011 after considering all the evidence before it, including Mr Blain’s defence and a number of supporting witness statements filed by him (through his then legal team) before he withdrew from the process. He declined the opportunity to appear before the commission to defend himself in person.”

Cricket Scotland have been approached for comment