West Indies Cricket

The significance of the “intimate connection between cricket and West Indian Social and Political life” Cricket has been intertwined in the life of West Indians since it arrived in the islands. It has been a representation of injustice and prejudice as well as a conduit for social and political triumph in the West Indies. The development of cricket, as not just another game, mirrors the question for decolonization from Britain and also the struggles of nationalist and independence endeavors.

Throughout its lifespan, the West Indies cricket team has been an institution where racial divide was present and then conquered, mirroring the social and political flows evident in mainstream society. Its legacy and continuation validates C. L. R James statement that “There is an intimate connection between cricket and west Indian social and political life”. The introduction of cricket to the West Indian islands proved to be another apartheid mechanism against black west Indians. The game was regarded as a ‘gentleman’s’ game and ousted the blacks from its perceived prestigious doors.

The first cricket clubs on the nineteenth century were compromised solely of white and reinforced the social and political norms of society. Hence, cricket was a metaphor for the social stratification of the colonial society (beckles, 15). To allow blacks into the cricket clubs and onto cricket fields was comparable to allowing them participation in the political structures of the time and elevating their social status. Blacks were still regarded as the lowest social class of the post emancipation era. Participation and leadership in social activities and institutions, such as schools and churches were restricted almost completely to whites.

Similarly, blacks had little voice in the political running of the colonies and could not posses status in the political realm. Voting was limited to propertied whites and blacks could not hold positions such as governors or mayors. The blacks regarded cricket as they did the social and political constraints imposed upon them; they were in awe of the game but at the same times felt hostility towards it, as it was yet another symbol of their oppression. Similarly, the relationship between the colonies and the metropolis was manifested in the cricket realm.

After the formation of the West Indies Cricket Team in 1884, the team toured the USA and Canada in 1886. The team did not play against the British team, however not for a lack of wanting. England, the metropolis, considered the team substandard and unprepared to play against the English team, much as they considered the colonies socially and politically inept. The team’s desire to play against England was manifestation of the white West Indians continuous strives to prove their social and political similarities with the metropolis and not as ‘creoles’ which they were referred to.

The exclusivism in cricket persisted until the early twentieth century (Beckles,14). The cricket clubs and the West Indies team began to include black players. The argument for the inclusion of the blacks on the team had been won by P. F Warner, after much debate, He believed that it was illogical to refuse black players onto a team which represented a region that was racially diverse. However, blacks were still not regarded as equals in the West Indies Cricket; again another reflection of colonial society. They were controlled and led by the white elite.

Race-based attitudes and opinions that had developed about West Indians, black in particular, within the context of colonialism and Empire found their way onto the cricket field (Beckles, 20). According to CLR James, the cricket field was a stage on which selected individuals played representative roles which were charged with social significance (James, 66). Therefore, since the whites controlled the political system and were at the summit of the social hierarchy, it was logical to them that they also control the West Indies cricket team, one of the only international relpresentations of the islands at the time.

The west indies cricket team toured England in 1906, with five blacks. The tour demonstrated the racial injustice and malice towards the blacks and the West Indies. The west Indian players, the blacks in particular, were depicted as monkeys in English magazines and mocked for their lack of breeding for not wanting to pay with shoes and also for being unable to consume English cuisine. This was similar to the british view of the West Indies as uncivilized people who needed to be controlled in order for them to be productive.

After west indies cricket team was granted test status in 1928, blacks continued to struggle with the bias selection of cricketers to the team and also captaincy. Also, the agendas of the whites and blacks on the team, during tours, were completely contradictory. This was observed and written about by the west Indian all rounder and scholar Learie Constantine. The whites played cricket largely to prove their gentility, while the blacks did so to prove their equality (Gable and Sandiford, 4).

The white creoles approached the English tours seemingly oblivious of the social and political connotations associated with the tours. In their minds, it was simply a game being played against their English relations. The blacks however thought differently. They saw it as an opportunity to demonstrated west Indian capabilities to a system which had for years considered them incapable. This division of purpose of the tour was a replica of the society’s political trends.

The white West Indian elites were not prepared to challenge England for the independence of the islands while the blacks were prepared to do away with the imperialist system which was oppressing them. The struggles persisted into the 1930s, with the black masses demanding equal recognition for their cricketers against white supremacy ideology. Similarly, within the masses, were also demanding equal treatment in the social and political systems. This is evident in the labor rebellions which occurred across the British West Indies in the 1930s.