Globalizing Cricket: Englishness, Empire and Identity

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This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Globalizing Cricket examines the global role of the sport - how it developed and spread around the world. The book explores the origins of cricket in the eighteenth century, its establishment as England's national game in the nineteenth, the successful (Caribbean) and unsuccessful (American) diffusion of cricket as part of the development of the British Empire and its role in structuring contemporary identities amongst and between the English, the British and postcolonial communities. Whilst empirically focused on the sport itself, the book addresses broader issues such as social development, imperialism, race, diaspora and national identities. Tracing the beginnings of cricket as a 'folk game' through to the present, it draws together these different strands to examine the meaning and social significance of the modern game. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the role of sport in both colonial and post-colonial periods; the history and peculiarities of English national identity; or simply intrigued by the game and its history.

Reviews

[A]n example of good sociology and the application of sociology to understanding the development of a sport through exploring social process and interdependencies between groups. For this reason I strongly recommend the text, and consider that it will be of interest to sport scholars, sociologists, historians and cricket fans alike. -- Philippa Velija, York St John University, UK * International Review for the Sociology of Sport *
In this work of historical sociology based on a wide reading in the secondary literature, Malcom uses the figurational sociology of Norbert Elias to explore the interdependence between broad societal change and individual behaviour...The book raises many other questions...But that one can raise such questions is testimony to the stimulating and significant arguments of this ambitious study and the sense that Malcolms particular form of sociological analysis can provide answers. -- John Breuilly * Nations and Nationalism *
Dominic Malcolm's Globalizing Cricket places the spread of this most imperial of sports firmly within the context of English-ness and empire to produce an absolutely fascinating read. -- Mark Perryman (Philosophy Football) * Morning Star *
Sport is currently the hottest topic in Global Studies and this ambitious book, combining an historical sociology of cricket with a sophisticated understanding of the global trends shaping the game, is set to become the leader in its field. It captures the changing nature of cricket, dealing with both global developments and the impact of these developments on the game in England. * Chris Rumford, Professor of Political Sociology and Global Politics, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK *
The most riveting section focuses on internal colonisation recognising the need to go beyond socially constructed national borders, the advent of multiculturalism in Britain and how this impacts on new conceptions of Englishness and othering...To understand any sport it is essential to seek to comprehend how, if at all, the game is central to the fabric of the society in which it is played. Even though cricket is now undergoing the process of Indianisation, with the game being driven by the global spread of consumer culture as a consequence of the power of international capitalism, the relevance of Malcolms historical and sociological approach is immense, as it journeys through the colonial and post-colonial eras, whilst always returning to its origins and how the game continues to appeal to its domestic audience. In filling a clear gap in the market Malcolm succeeds in his objectives. The outcome is a volume that will be very useful for the graduate student but also for the sports enthusiast keen to place his/her favoured pastime and the mass of data generated into a critical context. -- Russell Holden * idrottsforum.org (Nordic Sports Science Forum) *

Author Bio

Dominic Malcolm is Senior Lecturer in the Sociology of Sport at Loughborough University. He is co-editor of The Changing Face of Cricket: From Imperial to Global Game, and The Social Organization of Sports Medicine, and author of Sport and Sociology and The Sage Dictionary of Sports Studies.