How are South Asian migrants changing the face of Australian Cricket?

The most recent Australian census showed a huge increase in the number of migrants coming to Australia from India and other South Asian countries. Many of these new migrants arrive hoping to establish a new identity and community through cricket. In the second episode of Colours of Cricket, we explore how these growing communities are instrumental in changing Australia’s cricketing calendar and how the game is being played.

Launceston Nepali Cricket Club members with Bridgett Archer, Federal Member for Bass in Tasmania. Credit: Provided

The face of cricket is changing in Australia.

Until the turn of the century, European settlers predominantly governed and represented Australian cricket.

World Cup-winning former Indian Captain Kapil Dev remembers that 40 years ago when he first toured down under, the Australian team was predominantly locally born white people.

“I remember back then, Pascoe was the only migrant in the Australian team”, he told Colours of Cricket, referring to test and One Day International player Len Pascoe.

I have seen in the last 10 years or 15 years, so many Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan players. They come out and play for Australia and feel proud about that... If you have the passport of that country, you deserve to play for that country.

Kapil Dev

Gideon Haigh is one of the most authoritative cricket journalists and writers in Australia who has covered the game for almost four decades. He agrees with Kapil Dev.

A devout club cricketer himself, Mr Haigh tells Colours of Cricket that nowadays it is pretty much standard to see migrants in any metropolitan cricket club.

“When it comes to keeping the game alive on Saturdays and Sundays, more often than not your most reliable players are those who are obsessing about cricket in some ways,” he says, referring to South Asian club cricketers.

“It’s [cricket] a mode of assimilation into the larger Australian society, so that’s a part that I think sometimes gets underestimated here.”

For many South Asian migrants, cricket is an easy way to connect to Australia. They find friends and family on the cricket pitch.

Vaibhav Deshpande is one such migrant who now plays club-level cricket in Victoria and is the captain of his club.

He said he did not have a family in Australia when he first arrived as an international student.

Vaibhav was delighted when a fellow member of Saint Brigid’s St Louis Cricket Club invited him over for a Christmas Lunch.

That was just a fabulous, fabulous gesture.

Vaibhav Deshpande

Hear more in this second episode of Colours of Cricket.

If you missed the first episode, go back to the beginning of the series to hear about the issue of under-representation and what pathways are available to support South Asian players keen to rise through the ranks of Australian cricket.

Follow Colours of Cricket in the SBS Radio app or in your favourite podcast app such as Spotify or Apple Podcasts. New episodes in this eight-part series are released each Monday.

Hosts: Preeti Jabbal and Kulasegaram Sanchayan

Lead Producer: Deeju Sivadas

Producers: Sahil Makkar, Vatsal Patel, Abhas Parajuli

Sound Design: Max Gosford

Program Manager: Manpreet Kaur Singh

Advisor: Patrick Skene

Colours of Cricket is a collaborative project from SBS Radio's South Asian language programs; SBS Bangla, SBS Gujarati, SBS Hindi, SBS Malayalam, SBS Nepali, SBS Punjabi, SBS Sinhala, SBS Tamil, and SBS Urdu.