Qasim Sheikh on Scotland’s cricket racism scandal: ‘To know others won’t go through this is everything’

On Wednesday, 48 hours after the publication of the racism report that shook Scottish cricket, Qasim Sheikh and Majid Haq went into the lion’s den. The two former internationals whose decisions to go public with their experiences of discrimination prompted the report, went to watch Scotland play New Zealand in Edinburgh, surrounded by many of the people whose behaviour led the report’s authors to their excoriating conclusions.

More accurately, they went public again, having seen complaints they made during their playing careers have little impact. “It was quite a nerve-racking experience walking into the ground,” Sheikh says. “All eyes were on us as we came in, and I didn’t know how people would respond to us. If I’m honest, the first half an hour in the ground was quite weird. You could see people were on eggshells, which I can understand. As the day went on, a lot of them stared in silence. Many people we’ve known for many years just walked straight past us. But more people started coming up, and there was real compassion shown.

“After the game finished Mark Watt and Chris Sole were the first two players to come out to shake our hands. They stood with us for a good amount of time, and we had some laughs. Gradually more and more of the national team players came over and showed some solidarity. That’s been lacking up to now.

“I went to the ground not sure if I should be there. I was asked: ‘Was I just there to embarrass people?’ In the end I think it was a very important day. The following morning I woke up to 30-odd messages from influential people in Scottish cricket, who are starting to come forward. But it’s absolutely not just about me and Majid – there are many people who have suffered and they all deserve to have