Of Cricket and Its Potential for Development
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Development through Sport: The ‘Indianisation’ of Cricket and its Potential for Development Jerram Bateman A thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Arts in Geography at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand June 2012 Abstract Cricket was introduced to India through British colonialism in the 18th Century, and became cemented in Indian culture and identity following independence in 1947. More recently, processes of globalisation have seen cricket at the elite level in India emerge as a source of immense wealth which, in turn, has led to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) gaining unprecedented control of the global cricketing landscape. Concurrent with this so-called ‘Indianisation’ of global cricket has been the increased attention given to the concept of ‘development through sport’ in international development literature. Within this literature, however, there has been little discussion of the implementation of ‘development through sport’ initiatives in India. It is argued here that the extraordinary levels of wealth, global administrative power, and global television exposure currently attached to cricket in India, coupled with cricket’s status as one of the most coalescing features of Indian culture, presents it as a potentially powerful tool for development. As such, this thesis explores emergent themes from the ‘development through sport’ literature, and those more established within development theory, in the context of development initiatives in India which explicitly use cricket for wider social purposes. Drawing upon key informant interviews, focus groups, and content analysis, it examines how and why cricket is being used in two community level initiatives, the Parivartan Programme and ‘Youth against AIDS’, both of which operate within one of Mumbai’s most underdeveloped municipal wards, as well as the more holistic interventions of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and its commercial partners. In doing so, this thesis offers a critical assessment of the motivation and overall efficacy of the use of cricket in development in India, from which conclusions as to its future implementation are drawn. ii Acknowledgements First, thanks must go to Dr Doug Hill for his advice on India, both before and during my fieldwork; to Amanda and Matt for providing safe harbour in Delhi for a week or so while I ‘acclimatised’; and to all those people in India with whom I interacted, from the key informants who participated in this research, right through to the street hawkers, taxi drivers and fellow cricket fanatics that I met throughout my travels. Without these people my research would not have been possible, nor my time in India as memorable. I am indebted to Professor Tony Binns for supervising this research, indulging my wish to incorporate cricket and India within the project, despite both being outside his normal scope of enquiry. His enthusiasm for development studies, and expertise within, is unsurpassed, and his predilection for correct syntax most useful. I look forward to our continued collaboration at the Duke for many Fridays to come. My friends, from all walks of life, have helped in so many different ways, I thank you all. In particular, I would like to thank those from the geography department’s post- graduate community for their collegial support; and those at the North East Valley Cricket Club for providing an environment in which I am able to enjoy my passion for cricket, and for covering my administrative duties while I was away in India. And, of course, my family, who have supported the completion of this thesis in a number of ways. My grandparents, uncles and aunts, and brothers and their partners have all, at one time or other, provided support, advice and nourishment; and my wee nephew Finn has been great at reminding me of what is really important in life. Special thanks must go to my Dad for his constant encouragement, not to mention financial assistance (I am working on those repayments); and to my Mum, simply for being the person that she was. Ma, you are always in my thoughts and always in my heart, always motivating me to be better. iii Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Table of Contents iv List of Figures vi List of Tables viii List of Abbreviations ix Chapter One: Introduction 1 Cricket in India 1 Diversity, inequality and underdevelopment in India 2 Development through sport 3 Research parameters 3 Thesis structure 4 Chapter Two: Literature Review 6 Sports geography 7 A geographical exploration of cricket in India 10 Development 15 ‘Development through sport’: an emerging literature 17 Conclusion 21 Chapter Three: Methodology 23 Research approach 24 Practical considerations 26 Methods 29 Semi-structured interviews 29 iv Focus groups 31 Qualitative data analysis 32 Content analysis 32 Positionality 33 Ethical issues 35 Limitations 36 Conclusion 37 Chapter Four: Cricket and community-level development in Mumbai’s 38 M/East municipal ward Human development in Mumbai 41 Human development in the M/East ward of Mumbai 43 The Parivartan Programme 45 Youth Against AIDS 52 Why cricket? 54 Conclusion 57 Chapter Five: The role of the ICC and their commercial partners in 58 development ‘Think Wise’: the global cricket AIDS partnership 60 ‘Great Spirit’: Promoting social inclusion through the spirit of cricket 64 ‘Room to Read’ 68 The motivation behind the ICC’s intervention in development 70 CSR and cricket in India 74 Conclusion 78 Chapter Six: How effective is ‘development through cricket’ in India? 80 Positive development outcomes 81 A critique of ‘development through cricket’ in India 92 Conclusion 101 Chapter Seven: A way forward for ‘development through cricket’ in India 104 ‘Development through cricket’ at the community-level in India 105 The role of the ICC and its commercial partners in development in India 106 Why cricket? Why development? 109 How effective has ‘development through cricket’ been in India? 110 The future of ‘development through cricket’ in India and potential research 113 Reference List 117 Appendix A: Interview/Focus Group Schedules 131 Appendix B: List of Key Informants 136 Appendix C: Ethics approval and participant information form and consent sheet 138 Appendix D: HDI Calculation 143 v List of Figures Figure 2.1: Rostow’s five-stage model of development 15 Figure 3.1: A photographic depiction of the researcher’s involvement in 35 cricket as a player, an administrator, a spectator, a coach, and a volunteer. Figure 4.1: Map of Mumbai demarcating the boundaries of the M/East Ward 40 (map of India inset). Figure 4.2: A slum in the M/East Ward of Mumbai. 42 Figure 4.3: An example of the cards used in the Parivartan Programme (the 50 complete card series inset). Figure 4.4: The Parivartan Programme video van with some of the 52 programme’s participants in front. Figure 4.5: A comic handed out as part of the Parivartan Programme. 52 Figure 5.1: The ‘Think Wise’ logo displayed on the sleeve of elite umpire 62 Simon Taufel at the 2011 Cricket World Cup in India. Figure 5.2: Prominent South African cricketer and ‘Think Wise’ Ambassador, 63 Graeme Smith, participating in a ‘Think Wise’ event at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi during the 2011 Cricket World Cup. vi Figure 5.3: Participants in the Mumbai ‘Great Spirit’ Programme receiving 66 cricket equipment at the conclusion of the training. Figure 5.4: New Zealand cricketer Jamie How interacting with participants in 68 Mumbai’s ‘Great Spirit’ programme at Wankhede Stadium. Figure 5.5: The DEC logo prominently displayed on a busy Mumbai street, 76 and on the clothing of New Zealand cricketer Daniel Vettori (inset), during the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Figure 6.1: One of the participating ‘teams’ in the community-level 89 implementation of the Parivartan Programme, playing together outside of the programmes organised activities. Figure 6.2: Juxtaposition of facilities used by the ICC’s ‘Great Spirit’ Project 98 in Mumbai during the 2011 Cricket World Cup, with the Ambedkar Kridangan Ground in the M/East Ward of Mumbai. vii List of Tables Table 4.1: Human Development Index (HDI) for major Indian cities. 41 Table:4.2: The Human Development Index (HDI), and a selection of 44 development indicators, across the municipal wards of Mumbai. Table 5.1: A list of some international cricketers’ favourite books, as promoted 70 by ‘Room to Read’ during the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Table 5.2: Summary of content analysis of CSR policies of the ICC’s 75 commercial partners. Table 6.1: Development capability of ‘Room to Read’ given different levels of 86 funding. Table 6.2: Cross-section of Key Informant statements discussing the peripheral 88 benefits of the initiatives in which they are involved. Table 6.3: Strategies within the ICC’s development initiatives that promote 99 gender equality. viii List of Abbreviations AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome AIILSG All India Institute of Local Self-Government BCCI Board of Control for Cricket in India CSR Corporate Social Responsibility ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network FIBA Federation Internationale de Basketball Association FIFA Federation Internationale de Football Association FMCG Fast Moving Consumer Goods FVPF Family Violence Prevention Fund GAD Gender and Development GDP Gross Domestic Product HDI Human Development Index HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus ICC International Cricket Council ICL Indian Cricket League ICRW International Centre for Research on Women IIPS International Institute for Population Sciences IMF International