This volume covers the "third rising" of West Indies cricket. As the sport becomes ever more commercialized, large amounts of money have established sponsorship & support systems to give cricketers around the world every possible advantage. Beckles assesses what impact the globalization of cricket has had on the cricketers of the Caribbean. He also describes the emergence of what he argues is a debilitating sub-nationalism in the West Indies, & the effect this has had on the game, & the prospect for integrating West Indian nationhood in the twenty-first century.

This volume covers the "third rising" of West Indies cricket. As the sport becomes ever more commercialized, large amounts of money have established sponsorship & support systems to give cricketers around the world every possible advantage. Beckles assesses what impact the globalization of cricket has had on the cricketers of the Caribbean. He also describes the emergence of what he argues is a debilitating sub-nationalism in the West Indies, & the effect this has had on the game, & the prospect for integrating West Indian nationhood in the twenty-first century.

This ambitious new study argues that not only is the story of cricket inescapably entwined with that of capitalism, but that the game provides a unique lens with which to understand the history, development, exigencies and contradictions of capitalist political economy. From the aristocratic capture of the artisan’s game to the commodified entertainment of private T20 leagues, the story of cricket has been told against the background of capitalism. Cricket was the gentlemanly vanguard of the English-led British empire which forged the first iteration of international capitalism that was reliant upon a political and commercial partnership between rulers and the ruled, and today it speaks to the productive tension between the emergence of the Asian century and the power of American cultural imperialism. Reading capitalism as a cultural, economic and political system, this book explores the relationship between cricket and capitalism, and illuminates many of the most important themes in contemporary sport studies, such as class, race, gender, globalisation, nationalism, neoliberalism, commodification and migration. This is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in sport history, the sociology of sport, global political economy, political theory or cultural studies.

Sport Stars investigates the nature of contemporary sporting celebrity, examining stars' often turbulent relationship with the press, and exploring themes of identity, race, and spectacle.

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.

Cricket is an enduring paradox. On the one hand, it symbolises much that is outmoded: imperialism; a leisured elite; a rural, aristocratic Englishness. On the other, it endures as a global game and does so by skilful adaptation, trading partly on its mythic past and partly on its capacity to repackage itself. This ambitious new history recounts the politics of cricket around the world since the Second World War, examining key cultural and political themes, including decolonisation, racism, gender, globalisation, corruption and commercialisation. Part One looks at the transformation of cricket cultures in the ten territories of the former British Empire in the years immediately after 1945, a time when decolonisation and the search for national identity touched every cricket playing region in the world. Part Two focuses on globalisation and the game’s evolution as an international sport, analysing: social change and the Ashes; the campaigns for new cricket formats; the development of the women’s game; the new breed of coach; the limits to the game’s global expansion; and the rise of India as the world’s leading cricket power. Cricket: A Political History of the Global Game, 1945-2017 is fascinating reading for anybody interested in the contemporary history of sport.

A collection of essays that analyze the interconnections between race, ethnicity, and sport.