South African Cricket, Imperial Cricketers and Imperial Expansion, 1850–1910

Abstract

This article will explore the early development of cricket throughout the different regions and population groups of South Africa while investigating its link to British imperialism and colonialism. As this study will show, a variety of individuals were fundamental in this process of cultural transfer and assimilation, as were the strategies of the authorities in fostering social, economic and political ties between the ‘mother country’ and its dependants. Early cricket relations between England and South Africa will also be examined as sites of a purposeful imperial fellowship set against a South African society still developing its own hierarchies of power and order. The British had after all introduced cricket to South Africa during a period of intense conflict over land and political control. The game, alongside warfare and politics, was set to play its part.