Pakistan and the role of politics in cricket
Why Cricket?
The belief that ‘what was bred in the marrow does indeed come out of the bat’, highlighted in Shaharyar Khan’s recent book ‘Cricket Cauldron: The Turbulent Politics of Sports in Pakistan’, makes one wonder whether this extended from the individual to the nation. Does cricket also reflect a nation’s character – its history, its personality, its culture, its social make-up, its insecurities, its politics, its religious commitments? Shaharyar Khan, the ex-chariman of PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) points out: ‘The idea that sports is reflective of society – that what is present in society (religion, ethnic divisions, class distinctions, nationalistic zeal) will find its way into sports – is not new. Ever since C. L. R. James’s seminal account of cricket in the West Indies, the idea that cricket intimates society has been in place. Cricket, more than any other game, reflects the political, social and economic environment of a country. The West Indians are aggressive – like gladiators - brash and immensely colorful. They reflect the huge talent and panache of the Caribbean people. The Australians are frank, truculent and open-hearted. The English are cautious, low-key and disciplined. India’s image has changed along with its global image. Once the epitome of the colonial gentleman - elegant, exotic but genial - the team has changed alongside India’s rise as an economic powerhouse’. The Sri Lankans, well, for them cricket is religion.
Writing on the power and influence of cricket as a sport, Sir John Major states:
‘It can uplift whole communities – whole nations even – or cast them down. And because cricket is played largely in the mind, and reflects society from which the cric...
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...t unpredictability and its unfettered and unharnessed natural talent.
Despite all the scandal-related disappointments, cricket in Pakistan has brought more national joy and pride than any other source. As extraordinary as it sounds, cricket has the charm, whereby, in the midst of economic and political upheavals, a victorious cricket match could serve as a uniting force between the rich and the poor, urban and rural, old and young. Varying backgrounds, ethnicities and religions are discarded to celebrate Pakistan’s mutual joy and passion. It entails the capacity to lift the nation life nothing else. Therefore, the loss of International cricket in Pakistan is a tragedy, an aggravation of a troubled nations heart.
Conclusion
Imran Khan: “For me, the story of Pakistan cricket and the story of Pakistan today are the same - it is the story of unfulfilled promise”.
The presence of activity and sport is found within cultures and societies all over the world, and throughout history. Activity in the form of sport can often be the purest form of expression for a society or individual. The sporting world is often thought to be a microcosm of the actual world with the problems and issues of society still being ever present in the sporting community. Since sport can be used as an expression of self, it is no wonder that sport is often a reflection of the society that it occupies. One such society that was deeply impacted by the role of sport is that of Native American boarding school students in the 1800’s and 1900’s. These students lived tough lives but just like how it had helped other cultural societies, sport was able to provide these students with basic needs of autonomy and pride.
sport as the people's last resort for economic stability with a high price to pay; morals and
As our society continues to put more emphasis on how sports are viewed, the central theme that has always been associated with sports has evolved into something bigger. The power of sports extends further than the scoreboard and can bring a nation or a race together during times of strife. The sport can bring together a local town rivalry, to a country itself given a dramatic experience, or up to a race of people continuing through persecution or oppression.
" Doris R. Corbett WaynePatterson." THE SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE OF SPORT. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.
Foer’s thesis analyses the idea that sports gives cultural and personal identification. Sports forms group identity; the same way religion does it. He states that individual sports and sports in general achieve popularity depending on the values that are express from it. Foer’s thesis can be analyze and see in a lot of communities. People look for values that they lack and would like to learn to make themselves better in a sport. Being active, committing to a routine, are some of the things people look in a sport. Just in the same way people turn to religion to find values that they lack; being compassion, having devotion, understanding and forgiving, learning to be a better person for the ones around them and for themselves are values people often look for in a religion.
Coakley, J. J. (2007). Sports in society: issues & controversies (9th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Jarvie, G. (2012). Sport, Social Division and Social Inequality. Sport Science Review. 20 (1-2), 95–109.
Nelson Mandela once said that sports have the power “to change the world… to inspire… to unite people” (Carlin et al., 2008). He said this in 1995 before the rugby World Cup, which help to unite an apartheid stricken country.
Kanemasu, Yoko. "Rugby Is a Sport That Has given Fiji International Recognition. The Professionalisation of Rugby Has Led to a Growing Number of Elite Players Emigrating from Fiji." International Review for the Sociology of Sport. Dec2013, Vol. 48 Issue 6, P720-735. 16p (n.d.): n. pag. Web.
...of sport. On the world stage, South Africa was recognised as a country in change and in change for the better. Yorkshire, a middle class working area was helped by the industrial revolution to help increase its population to raise the levels of interest in cricket. A local community can be united significantly by the power of the locals’ passion and pride in the club. They attain a sense of belonging in the area. Regional press raised the awareness of the club and identity of the area through its coverage of the local cricket team to which the locals felt they belonged to. Sport and identity together have a healthy relationship together in which one can benefit the other greatly. If positive identities are attained by the nation or region, they do become sustainable as everyone will follow in the positive image created around the nation or region in question.
Many people may not know that baseball and cricket both originated in England. Cricket was always the favorite sport out of the two up until the
Dealing with the issue of sport and ethnology, three major factors come to mind; prejudice, racism, and discrimination. These factors span across gender, ethnic, racial, religious, and cultural groups. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss how these factors have played a part in the evolution of sport in our society. The first issue tackled in this paper will be racism in sports, followed by prejudice and discrimination.
Sports throughout history have shown close ties and relations to values and cultures of a society. Sports and competition have adapted and grown as the world and people have grown and developed. Sports are often seen as simple consequence of the industrial revolution. The Impact of increased urbanization, better communication and transportation, as well as more time and income for specialization, all led to the creation of sports. (szymanski). In essence As the public sphere grew so did the concept of sport. (Szymanski). Even the impact colonization had on spreading sports, shows the congruence between the development of society and development of modern sports. What make sports very unique is that they always bring about a sense of culture
“India and Pakistan: Tense Neighbours.” BBC. N.p., 16 Dec. 2001. Web. 15 May 2011. .
Nelson Mandela once said “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, it has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope, where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination.” Nelson Mandela said this because he experienced it firsthand in his and South Africa’s battle against apartheid. Apartheid holds a sad and disgraceful role in the history of South Africa. Apartheid led to the death of many innocent people. “Apartheid, which means the state of being apart, was the national system of racial segregation in South Africa in which the rights of the majority black inhabitants were diminished. At the same time the rights of the minority white inhabitants were maintained. It’s life span lasted from 1948-1994. (Overcoming Apartheid).” Apartheid was very similar to segregation in the United States, schools, neighborhoods, restaurants, and even sporting events were segregated. “One of the reasons for the being of apartheid was that the powerful Afrikaans thought it was God’s will for the blacks and whites in South Africa to be segregated. (Bestall).”