Cricket, More Than A Game In The West Indies
Sat, Oct 6, '18
The Windies men's cricket team started the tour of India with the first Test on Wednesday of this week. It was natural then that this week while teaching the topic 'Nationalism and Sports' I tested students' knowledge about West Indies cricket - one of the most significant sports that has unified us as a region, and helped to perpetuate a sense of pride and nationalist feelings. They struggled to identify things about the current Windies team, like the name of the captain or players other than Jamaicans (since the class is comprised of 100 per cent Jamaicans). I then used the opportunity to introduce them to CLR James' Beyond a Boundary and the documentary Fire in Babylon.
While these students may not be a large sample size for research, their responses, and the responses of the 60-70 students I have taught each year for the past five years, make me wonder to what extent the love for cricket, especially West Indies cricket, is dying in the region. In fact, it is only through these documentaries most of my students understand the impact of cricket in "deconstructing the culture of sport". I won't start assigning blame, but I believe it has more to do with globalisation, and a shift in our ideologies.
read the full article at Jamaica Gleaner
