Cricket and Globalization: Evolution of the Imperial Game

The article critically analyzes the evolution of cricket from the British rule to contemporary era, shedding light on the diffusion of cricket during the British domain and the subsequent commercialization of the sport. The growth and diffusion of global sports have immense potential for global processes. The paper aims to change the position of sports as an area of analysis in the domain of ‘global historical’ processes.

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The growth and diffusion of global sports have immense potential for global processes.
Such a significant potential is evident from the development of industrial modernization that is
recognized to act as a take-off phase of contemporary sports whereby rules and regulations are
methodically formalized along with a proper systemization of schedule of upcoming
competitions. The author of the article “Cricket and Globalization: Global Processes and the
Imperial Game” has fundamentally aimed to change the position of sports as an area of analysis
in domain of ‘global historical’ processes1. Furthermore, the article sheds light on the diffusion
of cricket during the British domain along with the subsequent commercialization of the sport by
drawing significance from the ideas of Ramachandra Guha in his paper based on Cricket and
Politics in Colonial India. In the paper by Guha during British realm in India, competitive cricket
had been arranged primarily based on communal values and ideologies with teams composed on
the basis of caste, ethnic communities, race and religion. The following paper aims to critically
analyse the ideas drawn by the two authors on the way cricket as a process has evolved from the
British rule to contemporary era.
Guha (1998) claimed through his writing that certain British cricketers perceived sport as
a way of emotions which tends to be disproportionate in a hostile manner as a mechanism for
reinforcing relations between the cricketers and their subjects. However further distinct relations
between cricket identified as a sport and the colonizing aim in a highly enthralling account of a
cricket tour if India during the 1900’s under the title of ‘Oxford Authentics’2. Furthermore, by
critically analysing the scenario of the game during British period it has been noted that the
expansion of the sport had been productive of conflict that had been embodied by complex
associations of the British with the Hindus. This had led to the incidence of the prevailing
1 Fletcher, Thomas. "Cricket, migration and diasporic communities." Identities 22, no. 2 (2015): 141-153.
2 Guha, Ramachandra. "Cricket and politics in colonial India." Past & present 161 (1998): 155-190.

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religious associations in numerical terms and contrary to the minor sections of Parsis and
Muslims was greatly resilient to the prolongation of colonial rule3. Meanwhile Mustafa (2013)
has shed light on the cricket as a renowned and appreciated sport has spread within the British
realm and has been a conservation of the English and South Welsh classes that is recognized as a
sport organized by Indian investments along with a political influence. Such an important
‘Indianization’ of cricket over the 20th Century has offered a distinct example of the development
of a non-Western influence in the cultural arena4. This expansion also observed by Mustafa
(2013) has been consequential to declare that cricket is fundamentally identified as a game based
on Indian values, ideas and ethics that had been unintentionally discovered by the British.
However, the growth of contemporary sport had drawn integrated linkages with high degree of
European imperial dominance whereby the first international cricket had been played during late
1870’s along with the governing agencies for other sports such as soccer, cricket and tennis
which were established during early phase of 1900’s. Furthermore, Mustafa (2013) in his article
has shed light on the Parsis’ participation in cricket which eventually facilitated other
communities belonging to other religious groups to take integrated participation in the sport.
Such avenues opened for various communities comprised a significant venture in the benefits of
colonial trade and commerce which decided to adapt the skills of playing cricket recognized as a
colonizers’ game.
At this juncture, Guha (1998) had emphasized on the process which led to the
Indianization of cricket whereby Hindus through several colonial and political challenges
managed to achieve success in the match played in Bombay which facilitated the Hindu
3 Hussain, Fawad. "Media representation of sports and sportspersons: a study of trends with specific reference to
cricket in India." PhD diss., Aligarh Muslim University, 2014.
4 Mustafa, Fahad. "Cricket and globalization: global processes and the imperial game." Journal of Global History 8,
no. 2 (2013): 318-341

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cricketers to attain a more dignified position in comparison to their Japanese rivals. However it
has been claimed that the colonial and political intricacies served as a contributory role for Hindu
cricketers by the success of distinctiveness in a systemic cricketing sense and through the means
of growing positivity regarding the nationalist movement5. Furthermore, adopting an
interdisciplinary approach author has drawn ideas from Sulehria (2017) who had imagined the
centrality of sports to the modernized events’ amalgamation of transnational cultural
industrialization along with textualization that implies its potential to shape the usage of the term
‘globalization’6.
However, both the authors of the articles have emphasized on the way sports have tended
to bring together wide range of sportsmen regardless of their skin colour and ethnic background
rather than compelling ancient hatreds or counterparts. Vital evidences have been drawn from the
Quadrangular whereby the former Governor of Sind was highly influenced that communal
equivalents bind varied communities together and efficiently foster harmony both inside and
outside of the field not only in the arena of cricket but also in other games. Furthermore, the
achievements of the Quadrangular had been perceived as a form of communal victory but
insignificantly as an outcome of enhanced performance by the winning side and did not leave
behind any resentment or animosity but significantly fired the objective of others to perform
better in the prospective games7.
Therefore to conclude it can be stated that the significant transition of cricket during
nineteenth and twentieth century have been integrated in the social as well as economic shifts
5 Ponsford, Megan. "An unsung history: the birth of Indian–Australian cricket." Sport in Society (2017): 1-20.
6 Sulehria, Farooq. "DD and PTV as victims of media globalisation." Asian Journal of Communication 27, no. 1
(2017): 97-112.
7 Appadurai, Arjun. "Playing with modernity: the decolonization of Indian cricket." Altre Modernità 14 (2015): 1-
24.

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occurred in former British colonies along with the altering changes in the East and Western
nations. Through several colonial and political challenges the game of Cricket was successfully
recognized as well as commercialized in countries where it emerged as a platform which was
utilized by the colonized against the colonizers where it became an indicator of identity.

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Bibliography
Appadurai, Arjun. "Playing with modernity: the decolonization of Indian cricket." Altre
Modernità 14 (2015): 1-24.
Fletcher, Thomas. "Cricket, migration and diasporic communities." Identities 22, no. 2 (2015):
141-153.
Guha, Ramachandra. "Cricket and politics in colonial India." Past & present 161 (1998): 155-
190.
Hussain, Fawad. "Media representation of sports and sportspersons: a study of trends with
specific reference to cricket in India." PhD diss., Aligarh Muslim University, 2014.
Mustafa, Fahad. "Cricket and globalization: global processes and the imperial game." Journal of
Global History 8, no. 2 (2013): 318-341.
Ponsford, Megan. "An unsung history: the birth of Indian–Australian cricket." Sport in
Society (2017): 1-20.
Sulehria, Farooq. "DD and PTV as victims of media globalisation." Asian Journal of
Communication 27, no. 1 (2017): 97-112.