Cricket, Capitalism and Class

Chris McMillan is a Professional Teaching Fellow in the School of Cultures, Languages and Linguistics at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. He is a sociologist with a particular interest in the intersections of cultures of capitalism, sport, cities and public policy. Chris is an active, if ineffective, cricketer and has played recreationally for East Coast Bays Cricket Club in New Zealand as well as Kew Cricket Club in London.

• Introduction, Part I: Origins, 1. Class: Cricket’s Original Sin, 2. Cricket and Ideology: The Fantasmatic Logic of the Village Green, 3. Cricket and the Modern Gentleman: Class in Twenty-First Century English Cricket, Part II: Empire, 4. Cricket and the Making of Global Capitalism: Aotearoa, Exploitation and Expropriation, 5. Cricket, Capitalism and Colonial Rule: The Case of India, 6. Cricket, Power and Post-Colonial Resistance: The Case of the West Indies, Part III: Geopolitics, 7. Cricket’s Asian Century: The Rise of the IPL, 8. Franchises, Freelancers and Representation: Cricket, Neoliberalism and Nationalism, 9. Cricket and Racial Capitalism: The South African Case, Part IV: Late Capitalism, 10. Consuming Cricket: Cricket and the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, 11. Producing Cricket: The Cricket-Media Complex, 12. Cricket and Patriarchal Capitalism: Recognising Batters, 13. Liberation/Alienation/Exploitation: Global Capitalism and the Women’s Premier League, Conclusion: Cricket in the Wreckage of Capitalism

'If the cricket ‘Establishment’ co-opted C.L.R. James, and denigrated Mike Marqusee, it will be interesting to see how they react to Chris McMillan, a third Marxist, who has exposed how class and capitalism shapes the global game – for better or worse – like never before. While no book is ever definitive, you’d be hard pushed to think of, or produce, a more comprehensive examination of cricket, past and present, in a global context and the role that capitalism and class plays, all too often, in hindering it ever becoming a ‘people’s game’. A book that highlights the significance of sport – in this case cricket – in understanding the central role class plays in capitalist, and increasingly globalised, society. Whether you follow the game or not, this is essential reading for not only academics, but those running, broadcasting, and writing about the game also.' Duncan Stone, Author of ‘Different Class: The Untold Story of English Cricket’, The University of Huddersfield, UK