The Changing Face of Cricket: From Imperial to Global Game

For cricket enthusiasts there is nothing to match the meaningful contests and excitement generated by the game's subtle shifts in play. Conversely huge swathes of the world's population find cricket the most obscure and bafflingly impenetrable of sports. The Changing Face of Cricket attempts to account for this paradox.The Changing Face of Cricket provides an overview of the various ways in which social scientists have analyzed the game's cultural impact. The book's international analysis encompasses Australia, the Caribbean, England, India, Ireland, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Its interdisciplinary approach allies anthropology, history, literary criticism, political studies and sociology with contributions from cricket administrators and journalists. The collection addresses historical and contemporary issues such as gender equality, global sports development, the impact of cricket mega-events, and the growing influence of commercial and television interests culminating in the Twenty20 revolution.Whether one loves or hates the game, understands what turns square legs into fine legs, or how mid-offs become silly, The Changing Face of Cricket will enlighten the reader on the game's cultural contours and social impact and prove to be the essential reader in cricket studies.This book was published as a special issue of Sport in Society .

Dominic Malcolm is Senior lecturer in the Sociology of sport in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough Unviersity and Convenor of the British Sociological Association's Sport Study Group. He has published a number of co-edited texts-The Future of Football, Sport:Critical Concepts in Sociology, Sport Histories, and Matters of Sport. He is author of the Sage Dictionary of Sports Studies published in 2008.
Jon Gemmell teaches History and Sociology at Kennet School, Thatcham. He is the author of The Politics of South African Cricket, and has written a number of articles exploring the links between race/ethnicity, politicis and cricket in South Africa, Australia and Ireland. He is the co-editor of Cricket, Race and the 2007 World cup and is currently working on a history of the ethos of cricket.
Natin Mehta is Founding Joint Editor of South Asian History and Culture and Trustee of the South Asia Research Foundation. A Fellow of the International Olympic Museum, Lausanne (2007) he is the author of India on Television and Olympics: The India Story. He works for the Global Fund, Geneva, and is currently co-writing a history of the Commonwealth Games and Delhi 2010.

Introduction1. The academic study of cricket: an overview and evaluation Dominic Malcolm and Boria MajumdarHistory and Diffusion2. Cricket, History, Transnationalism and Change Brian Stoddart3. Cross-National Cultural Diffusion: The global spread of cricket Jason Kaufman and Orlando Patterson4. Irish Australians, Postcolonialism and the English Game Alan Bairner5. South African Cricket and the Expansion of Empire Dean AllenPolitics and Policy6. "From Far It Look Like Politics": CLR James and the Canon Anthony Bateman7. Wunderkidz in a Blunderland: Tensions and tales from Sri Lankan cricket Michael Roberts8. Rebellion, Race and Rhodesia: Cricket under UDI Charles Little9. The Numbers Game: Quotas and targets in South Africa Jon Gemmell10. 10 for 26 and All That: Why Cricket Matters, but New Zealand Cricket Doesn't Greg Ryan11. Cricket as Merrie England Professor John Bale12. Cricket, Race and Identities in the New South Africa John NaurightPeople and Personalities13. 'Fiery Fred': Fred Trueman and the nature of cricket celebrity in the 1950s and 1960s Jack Williams14. Brian Lara: 'Tradition and the individual talent' or the 'me/we' problem? Claire Westall15. A National(ist) Line in Post-colonising Cricket: Viv Richards, Biographies, and Cricketing Nationalism Malcolm MacLeanPlaying Matters16. Cricket, Gender Relations and Masculinities in the Caribbean Aviston D Downes17. Women at the Wicket Philippa Velija18. Burning Down The House Rob Steen19. Different Hats, Different Thinking: Cricket technocracy and Indian cricket Stephen Wagg and Sharda Ugra20. C L R James and the Question of Form Andrew Smith21. Globalization The Great Indian News Trick: Satellite Television, Cricketization and Indianization Nalin Mehta22. A New England?: Cricket and English national identities Dominic Malcolm23. Breaking Boundaries: Indian cricket and transnational identities Boria Majumdar24. Cricket and Global Warming: The impact of climate change on the global game Andrew Hignell