The Culture Is More Than the Team

In Australia, sport has always been a reflection of egalitarian attitudes; mateship; and sense of a ‘fair-go’. Modern social changes have commercialised sport adding new pressures to the structures of the clubs. This has unfortunately instilled a ‘win or die’ attitude within some, or perhaps most sports.

Sadly, In 2018, news media revealed the result of this pressure to win and the resultant fallout as Cricket Australia’s infamous ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town reverberated throughout the world’s cricket communities.

Now there are alleged issues within the culture that have caused displays of obvious racism towards the Indian team. This latest alleged incident has triggered investigation into the behaviour of the spectators at the Sydney Cricket Grounds (SCG) in Australia in January 2021.

Victoria University Institute for Health and Sport research fellow Matthew Klugman states “Obviously it’s a difficult thing to objectively quantify — a lot depends on which players speak up and the culture of the players in different leagues,” he said. “But it’s fair to say Australian cricket is still a place of systemic racism … the fan culture just reflects this.”

Western Sydney University Institute for Culture and Society associate Dr Keith Parry says “…the culture of cricket in Australia is deeply rooted in traditional (masculine) Australian values and these are heavily influenced by Anglo-Celtic ideals that make the acceptance of those that do not fit with these harder. The lack of diversity within national cricket sides may be an indicator that there is still work to be done on the culture of the sport.”

Cricket Australia CEO, Kevin Roberts declared the organisation’s interests in developing an ongoing cultural change program, making significant changes to the culture to inspire and unite communities through the sport and to ensure positive change both on and off the field. This cultural change program is structured across three categories: Our People, High Performance and Leadership. Perhaps enabling the players to employ their popularity to engage with and educate the fans, a culture that celebrates the game without allowing racism to become an ugly feature will be realised.

www.crikey.com.au/2021/01/11/scg-racism-india-australia-sport-cricket/