In the Caribbean

Cricket’s connection to Britain

Cricket was first played in England in the early 16^th century and became the country’s national sport in the 18th century. Established and developed in England, the game has spread to many of Britain’s colonies in the past few centuries. Soldiers and politicians brought the game with them to the places they controlled. Colonies in the Caribbean, Americas, South Asia and all over the world were connected to their mother country through cricket. It was a unifying symbol throughout the British Empire. The International Cricket Council (ICC) was established in England and for most of its history, only accepted Commonwealth countries. Today, cricket has spread to many other countries but its main hub is in countries that were previously under British control, like the West Indies, India, South Africa and Australia (Kaufman and Patterson).

Cricket in the West Indies

In 1950, The West Indies Cricket Team beat England for the first time on the international stage. The 1950 team, shown in

Figure 1, was made up of a mixture of players from many islands in the Caribbean, and many different cultures. Even though the players came from different homes, they all shared one common theme- their social status, lower middle class. Many of the countries were still controlled by wealthy white people where the laborers were black. The lower-class laborers wanted to prove themselves to the elite and the way they did that was through cricket. A piece of broken wood and anything to constitute as a ball made the game easy to come by for one of any status. Therefore, poor citizens were motivated to excel at cricket in order to gain the attention of the upper class. Most of those white upper classmen were Englishmen because before independence the islands were controlled by the British. As mentioned previously, Englishmen were proud and fond of cricket as it was a sport that originated in England. Excelling at cricket, specifically, other than any other sport, caught the attention of cricket-loving Englishmen controlling the Caribbean islands (Stoddart).

 

The fact that cricket was an English sport also motivated many locals in the West Indies to become better so that they could beat their mother country, showing colonial progress and accomplishments. In addition to proving themselves to the elite, cricket was popular in the West Indies because it is a sport of strength and creativity. It gave players a way to express themselves in a society when that was not usually allowed (Walcott). Cricket was also very straining on the body and required a lot of strength. It showed who was really cut out for a tough life, which was usually the black laborers who worked long and hard days. For all of these reasons, cricket’s popularity grew in the West Indies.

 

As the 20^th century continued, more countries gained their freedom. In 1966, Barbados marked their independence with a cricket match, showing how important the sport was to them. Cricket is not only a popular game, but it has many political ties

to it. Two Caribbean presidents, Wesley Hall of Barbados and Roy Fredericks of Guyana, were former players themselves. It was not only the faces of cricket that became political but real social issues aroused from cricket. Learie Constantine, pictured in Figure 2 who played for the West Indian team from 1928 to 1939, noticed many racial issues while he was playing professionally in England. His white peers respected his talent but they did not consider him equal socially. Just as in Trinidad, his home country, where blacks were second class citizens, the same was true in England. Constantine’s observation led him to campaign for change in the West Indies. He was joined by a well-known writer and cricket player C.L.R. James who wrote a lot about the connection between sports and politics. James and Constantine started a trend that led to many other organized political movements and reforms in the West Indies in the 1930’s (Stoddart). The racial division in the West Indies was shown clearly by the captainship of the team; the captain was always white. Being captain symbolized control which is why it was left to the whites. Frank Worrell was the first black captain of the West Indies team in 1960. He represented the people of the West Indies, symbolizing a new era of equality.

During the 1980’s, the West Indies team became dominant on the international stage, gaining respect from many other countries where cricket is popular. This dominance gave the West Indies power on the international stage, especially in solving racial issues. During the time of apartheid in South Africa, the West Indies used their influence to prevent a split of white and black countries, including South Africa. Many West Indian players went to South Africa to play and prevent losing the game of cricket there. Another victory the West Indies team was able to accomplish in the racial field was in England. In 1984, a completely black West Indies team swept England in 5 games, winning not only in cricket but also gaining a social victory. They represented the whole West Indian population and the black population of the world, showing how strong and capable blacks are, proving their equality.   Figure 3 shows a West Indies fan holding up a sign saying “Black Wash” at the last of 5 matches.  This sweep took place in England which made it a bigger statement in the face of the mainly white British team (Stoddart).

 

Today’s Cricket

Brian Lara is a retired international cricket player from Trinidad. His many records as a cricket batsman gained him international glory, making him a figure of West Indies pride. His success gets people to embrace their roots because he’s a positive representation of their homeland. One of the respondents to the survey I conducted even listed him as a prime inspiration for igniting the respondent’s cricket career. As stated in Riess’s book review, stars like Brian Lara transcend societal barriers, like racism and discrimination, that hold people back and gives others hope of breaking away from any subjugation they faced. Similarly, the book “Beyond a Boundary” by C.L.R. James touches upon how cricket displayed class and race divisions in West Indies communities. As previously stated, James’s fight to get a black man to be the captain of the West Indies cricket team is a punch in the guts of traditional colonial ways. This is synonymous to Lara’s accomplishments decimating societal setbacks and drawing together a renewed, proud identity.

 

References

James, C. L. (1901). Beyond a boundary. NY: Pantheon Books.

Kaufman, Jason, and Orlando Patterson. “Cross-National Cultural Diffusion: The Global Spread of Cricket.” American Sociological Review 70.1 (2005): 82-110. Jstor.org. Web. 16 May 2017.

Riess, S. (2015). Journal of Sport History, 42(3), 434-0436. doi:10.5406/jsporthistory.42.3.0434

Stoddart, Brian. “Caribbean Cricket: The Role of Sport in Emerging Small-Nation Politics.”International Journal, 43.4 (1988): 618-42. Jstor.org. Web. 9 May 2017

Walcott, William H. “Cricket and Caribbean Unity.” Caribbean Quarterly 39.1 (1993): 60-80. Jstor.org. Web. 9 May 2017.