Cricket, Kirikiti and Imperialism in Samoa, 1879–1939

Benjamin Sacks is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia.

• 1. Introduction: an English game, a Samoan contest.- 2. Transcultural adoption in Samoa (and in sport).- 3. From cricket to kirikiti.- 4. Colonial officials: play halted “in the interests of industry and progress”.- 5. Christian missionaries: “much that was distinctly heathenish”.- 6. Colonists, ‘afakasi and military men: sundries on ‘the Beach’.- 7. Navigating colonialism in three contexts: “cricket assumed a political importance”.- 8. Navigating New Zealand colonialism: “more interested in cricket than in Samoan politics”.- 9. Conclusion: sporting contest at the edges of empire.

“As a first comprehensive text on the history of kirikiti in Samoa, Sacks provides extensive references, glossaries, and very useful appendices referencing foreign and Samoan terms, which help guide the reader throughout. Sacks’ ongoing interrogation and weaving of a complex landscape has resulted in a thoughtful reading of kirikiti over five decades.” (Safua Akeli Amaama, The Journal of Pacific History, Vol. 56 (4), 2021)