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In celebration of South Asian Heritage Month.
For many South Asians such as myself, cricket is more than a sport. It is a pillar deep rooted in our culture, from socially playing from a young age, to watching all of the big matches together, such as the recent Cricket World Cup where India won, and a staggering 53 million people watched on Disney Plus alone. I don’t think I speak solely for myself when I say some of my fondest childhood memories took place with my Indian family friends, either watching matches in various households or even making day trips to Trent Bridge every summer, whether for T20s, ODIs or Test matches.
Her Game Too is currently supporting South Asian Heritage Month, and the theme this year is ‘Free to Be Me’, which invites us to think about cricket and its impact not only for personal enjoyment, but also on the wider community.
For many people of South Asian heritage, culture and community go hand in hand. In this way, cricket isn’t simply a popular sport that many of us enjoy, and therefore watch together. It is something that connects us all, whether in the UK, India, or all over the world. There is an excitement in watching a match you know that your community around the world are also tuning into. I’ve felt this more this year, as normally, whatever match or competition is taking place, the TV is always playing at my family home, however while I was living abroad in Spain - a country where cricket isn’t so big – I felt a lack and found myself keeping up with the IPL through dodgy livestreams.
I decided to ask a few of my fellow South Asian female friends about their relationship with cricket. Interestingly but unsurprisingly, all of them stated similar things to me.
The number one thing mentioned was family – every single one of them described watching matches and competitions with their family and emphasised the social aspect of viewing the sport. A comparison was made between the significance of football in the UK and cricket in South Asia, and I agree with this. Although there are millions of South Asian football fans, cricket’s significance on South Asian countries is much more pronounced, much like the importance of football in lots of other countries around the world. Not only that, but one friend mentioned that playing cricket with others in secondary school was a good experience as it brought everyone together - providing that community feel.
Sadly, however, it is important to note that the prevalence of South Asian people and especially women in cricket is significantly low, despite the evident interest. From personal experience and from talking to fellow South Asian women with an interest in cricket, it is clear that opportunities for involvement in playing cricket haven’t always been so available, with one person I have spoken to stopping playing cricket due to being the only girl on the team, although this is a widespread issue amongst all women and girls, something that will improve with time, and something that organisations such as Her Game Too are looking to combat.
Overall, it is impossible to deny the significance of cricket for the South Asian community, and its role for the pride of the subcontinent. Therefore, during South Asian Heritage month, I, along with Her Game Too and Her Game Too Cricket invite you to reflect on your own life experiences with sport and any impact it could have made on your identity or expression.
If you want to learn more about South Asian Heritage Month, you can visit their website: www.southasianheritage.org.uk/