Cricket as a vehicle for community cohesion: building bridges with British Muslims

Abstract

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to review practices and research within the social change and community cohesion disciplines, with a view to applying them in the context of British Muslims and cricket. The paper aims to discuss the role of sport, and especially cricket, to help build community cohesion and bring about social change between British Muslims and the wider British society. Design/Methodology/Approach-This paper uses an inductive and critical approach. Findings-This paper suggests that, the apolitical nature of sport and the popularity of cricket within the Southeast Asian British Muslim community can be used as an effective tool to build relationships between British Muslims and the wider British Society. It calls for reflexive thought and action on the part of cricket management to engage in community projects that will enhance the image of cricket as well as genuinely benefitting the society. Originality/Value-Growth of British Muslims has created a great amount of interest from a marketing perspective. Research into Islamic Marketing and British Muslim consumers are still in its infancy. This paper introduces an under researched area of British Muslims (to date), namely British Muslim sport spectators, and calls for cricket managers and marketers to take an active approach to embarking upon social change.

The sociodemographic profile of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) talent pathways and first-class counties: considering the British South Asian player

“…This could explain why, over recent years, it has been increasingly acknowledged that a substantial number of BSAs support the country of their ancestry, particularly when those countries are playing against England (Werbner, 1996). Furthermore, Yassim (2013) identified that supporting an ancestry nation creates a sense of community and inclusion for BSAs, as it forges a symbolic link with the subcontinent. As such, this enables the celebration of tradition, whilst creating a feeling of belonging with the nation that they, or their ancestors, migrated.…”

The wicked problem of social cohesion: moving ahead

“…' (practitioner, 2.1, migrants integration) Finally, the link between social cohesion and potential impact on radicalisation was discussed by the participants. Although no research to-date has evidenced a direct link between social cohesion and radicalisation, Yassim (2013) argued that a cohesive society can minimise the risk of radicalisation among young people. A Home Affairs Select Committee report in the UK (2012) identified that lack of representation in the social and political processes and a sense of exclusion were major drivers of radicalisation.…”

“…Participatory approaches provide a wide range of intervention tools for social marketers ranging from drama, art, music and sports to name but a few. Yassim (2013) provided a discourse on the use of sport in connecting communities in which it was argued that participatory approaches, such as sports, provides a common platform where individuals from various backgrounds can come together to explore and reconcile their differences. This is also in agreement with the concept of shared beliefs where identifying shared beliefs that different parts of the community hold about a given issue can help bring people together to address a social problem (Calderon, 2019).…”