ABSTRACT
Members of migrant and diasporic communities have made a significant contribution to the sport of cricket. The process of, and politics behind, migration was fundamental to understanding cricket cultures during times of the British Empire. According to Malcolm (2013), it is England’s colonial history that is the key to explaining the diffusion of cricket around the world, and thus the relationship between cricket and contemporary diasporic identities. The British Empire provided the context and much of the momentum for the diffusion of the game through the English-speaking world when British migrants introduced the game to ‘indigenous’ communities in the colonies (Khondker 2010). This relationship was defined by a number of processes; but namely the ‘Anglicisation’ of local elites, and symbolic competition and subaltern resistance from below. The history of colonialism, which entailed forced migration, economic exploitation, political subjugation and cultural domination also led to important cross-cultural
CRICKET, MIGRATION AND DIASPORIC COMMUNITIES
transactions (Khondker 2010); the result of which continue to this day within the cultural memories and experiences of diasporic communities around the world. Indeed, it is frequently cited that diasporic communities have developed a particular fondness for the game precisely because it allowed them to engage in anti-colonial struggle(s) against England. In so doing they help to shed light on the problematic relationships between power, colonialism and, in many cases, the experience of being colonised.
