It’s because we’re Indian, innit?’ Cricket and the South Asian diaspora in post-war Britain

Abstract

The South Asian communities who came to post-war Britain had numerous ways of maintaining links with ‘home’ even as they put down new roots. One conduit through which the interplay between old and new homes was reproduced was through the love of cricket many brought with them. The moral and ethical codes, which underpin much cricketing discourse, provided a language through which to reinscribe ideas of identity and belonging. Cricket helped create social networks and diasporic connectivity. These affective relations gave rise to South Asians who are today multiply rooted; secure in their Indian or Pakistani ‘national’ identities, at times identifying as a South Asian diaspora, but nevertheless also ‘loyal’ citizens of Britain. The story of South Asians and their relationship with cricket in post-war Britain sheds light on the complex politics of belonging in the post-colony, and illustrates that diaspora is ultimately an unstable assemblage of collective association.

Keywords:

• South Asian migrants
• diaspora
• cricket
• belonging
• post-war Britain

Notes

1. This is the image that was wistfully conjured up by Simon Hoggart in The Observer after the inauguration of the Indian Premier League, suggesting the end of a time and experience of cricket, which was quintessentially English.

2. Mumbai suffered a series of terrorist attacks in November 2008, where over a hundred people were killed. There was subsequently much public debate on the involvement of the Pakistan intelligence service. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/18/pakistan-isi-mumbai-terror-attacks

3. See Fletcher and Spracklen (2013) for a discussion of sport and drinking, and the tension that exists within the South Asian community, particularly Pakistani Muslims.

4. The interviews were conducted by myself, and two research assistants, Reza Gholami and Ashraf Hoque.

5. In virtually every interview that was conducted, people talked about cricket as a constant background to their domestic lives, something that has accelerated as more cricket is now televised.

6. One of the common sights at India vs. Pakistan matches are placards which declare ‘Rivals on the field, brothers forever’.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Parvathi Raman

PARVATHI RAMAN is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at SOAS.