This article investigates the presence and effects of racial microaggressions in English first-class cricket. Drawing on interview data with British Asian players, it not only highlights players' experiences of racism, but also identifies their tendency to downplay the repercussions of some of the forms that this prejudice takes. The analysis demonstrates that color-blind ideology is so entrenched in contemporary Western sport that its reproduction is not exclusively the preserve of white groups; it can also at times compel minority ethnic participants to endorse dominant claims that the effects of racism are overstated as well. As a consequence they are often pressured into denying or downplaying those forms of verbal discrimination which are articulated between team-mates and in a seemingly playful manner, dismissing incidents as merely "banter" or "jokes".Cet article porte sur la présence et les effets des micro-agressions raciales au cricket anglais. À partir des données d'entrevues réalisées auprès de joueurs anglo-asiatiques, il met en lumière leurs expériences de racisme et identifie leur tendance à amenuiser les répercussions de certaines des formes d'un tel préju-dice. L'analyse suggère que l'idéologie de l'absence de différence raciale est tellement enracinée dans le sport contemporain occidental que sa reproduction n'est pas exclusivement l'apanage des groupes blancs, elle peut aussi parfois contraindre les participants issus de minorités ethniques à entériner un discours dominant selon lequel les effets du racisme sont surévalués. En conséquence, ils sont souvent poussés à nier ou à minimiser ces formes de discrimination verbale qui sont articulées entre coéquipiers d'une façon apparemment ludique, rejetant les incidents comme étant de simples blagues.For many (although certainly not all) participants, fans, and media commentators, racism in professional sport in the UK is now perceived as largely a thing of the past. Any remnants are seen to be perpetrated by a decreasing number of residual bigots, who reside on the terraces rather than in the locker-rooms, management offices, and boardrooms. Indeed, it is frequently argued that racism at elite club and 261

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Under the Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) umbrella, an increasing number of sport projects are staged all over the world to improve the social, cultural, educational or psychological circumstances of marginalized and/or fractured communities. In research on such initiatives, only limited empirical examinations exist that focus specifically on garnering the perspectives of key players from local communities regarding value and impact of SDP. In addressing this issue, our study investigates the local lessons learnt from 13 Football for Peace (F4P) partnership projects that featured a mixture of Jewish, Arab, Bedouin and Circassian communities in Israel. Following an interpretive mode of enquiry, 30 interviews and two focus groups with key stakeholders were conducted, with an emphasis on exploring local experiences. Our findings highlight the diversity of community perspectives in relation to the following themes: values and delivery; engagement and commitment; and scope, regularity and sustainability. Specifically, our analysis illuminates the diverse interpretations and responses that exist in relation to the ethos, meanings and achievements of F4P, and calls for an appreciation of the intricacies, complexities and nuances in the way that the programme (and SDP work more generally) is received. Finally, the article demonstrates how the multiple theorizations and interpretations of community found within academic literature are reproduced and literally played out -but also contested, challenged, rejected and reformulated -in the practice of SDP.

This article examines the rapid rise to fame of teenage British Asian boxer Amir Khan following his silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games, and provides a critical discourse analysis of the way that he was subsequently constructed and represented by politicians and the media as a role model for multiethnic Britain. The analysis demonstrates that in the periods directly after both the 2004 Olympic Games and the 7 July 2005 London bombings, the majority of discourses about, and representations of, Khan were inextricably related to contemporary debates around multiculturalism, national identity, and religious extremism and/or deviance amongst young British Muslim men. This article argues that despite the ostensibly positive portrayals of Khan as an individual, a broader, more critical reading of these texts uncovers how they actually reproduce the contradictions and problems inherent to New Labour's policies on citizenship, community cohesion, the 'war on terror' and 'diversity management'. The article concludes that the almost ubiquitous configuration of Khan as a positive role model is in danger of obscuring the continued existence of discourses and practices of racism and social exclusion in contemporary Britain.

British Muslims (the majority of whom are of South Asian background) remain largely excluded from professional sport in the UK. A notable exception is cricket, where significant representation has been achieved in a playing capacity. Based on in-depth interviews, this article examines the experiences of British Muslim players in the contemporary English first-class game. In particular, it addresses the role and significance of Islam in their sporting lives; the extent to which their experiences as Muslims and their subsequent public articulations of Muslimness in the sporting environment are affected by the wider socio-political climate that has developed since the 7/7 London transport bombings; and the degree to which dominant subcultural and off-field aspects of professional cricket are perceived to be conducive to observing the obligations of Islam. Following academic work that has detailed the complexities, nuances and multiple constructions of young Muslim lives and identities in other areas of British society, this article extends these analyses by examining the currently under-researched area of professional sport, thereby shedding light on an arena in which British Muslim voices have previously been ignored or marginalized. The article also discusses methodological issues related to a non-Muslim undertaking research in/with Muslim communities.