The future of cricket
Dr Boria Majumdar
On the eve of the Boxing Day test between India and Australia, it’s timely to ask what cricket is all about and where it came from.
India today is the game’s powerhouse. It has given the world Twenty20 and franchise cricket on a scale never seen before. A country of 1.21 billion cricket lovers, India has spearheaded the transformation of the traditional game, played by English gentlemen.
Monash University’s National Centre for Australian Studies Visiting Fellow, Dr Boria Majumdar is a sport historian and one of the world’s leading commentators on contemporary cricket and South Asian sport. At an upcoming event Dr Majumdar will ask if recent changes have transformed this historic game beyond recognition and what the future of cricket might hold.
As part of this national conversation, Dr Majumdar will be joined by leading Australian sports historian, Professor Brian Stoddart, and The Australian’s acclaimed cricket correspondent, Gideon Haigh.
Dr Majumdar and colleagues will take the Test series and other cricket issues beyond the boundary and discuss how cricket explains much about our world and its international tensions.
Together they will discuss Indian cricket’s emergence from its colonial and communal origins through to its dominance as the game’s financial and political power, and the impact this has had on the ways in which the game is now played, administered and consumed worldwide.
Dr David Dunstan, School of Journalism and Australian Studies, highlights the significance of this event.
“Australians and Indians are renowned for their love of cricket. This event, to be held just days before the biggest match on the Australian cricketing calendar, will provide a public opportunity to discuss the contemporary game as never before,” Dr Dunstan said.
“As we move further into an era of Indian Premier League and Twenty20 cricket, Boria, Brian and Gideon will provide insights into both the past and the future of this historic game.”
At stake is the future of the game itself. Dr Majumdar will ask if we are witnessing a clash of cricketing cultures which will render traditional forms of the game redundant and ultimately lead to Mumbai becoming the determiner of cricketing business.
Dr Majumdar is the author of the landmark social and cultural history of Indian Cricket, Twenty-two Yards to Freedom, as well as various other books including Indian Cricket Through the Ages and most recently Sellotape Legacy: Delhi and the Commonwealth Games, co-authored by Nalin Mehta. He is also a regular contributor to the Indian media and press. He is available for interview.
The event will be held from 6-8pm, Thursday 22 December, 2011 at BMW Edge, Federation Square, Melbourne. To confirm your attendance please contact Margaret Spier on 9903 4038 or Margaret.Spier@monash.edu.
For further information contact Dr David Dunstan on 0410 331272 or David.Dunstan@monash.edu.