All White Mate? Cricket and Race in Oz

This study considers the question of why Australian cricket is still seen as a sport dominated by the white population. It takes as its starting point the riots on Cronulla beach at the end of 2005 to highlight a country that holds a number of conflicting cultural beliefs. That these beliefs can place barriers to playing cricket is shown by an examination of the Aborigine populations' relationship to the sport, looking at why they were initially encouraged to play cricket, and then why they stopped. A look at immigration patterns confirms Australia as a diverse nation that has to come to terms with the inclusion of a number of minority groups, and concludes that it will ignore these groups at its peril. To claim that a group of people share a common ancestry may be scientifically justifiable; to claim that they share inherent virtues or vices which make them inherently better or worse than other people is quite unwarranted. [1 [1] Tatz, With Intent to Destroy Tatz, Colin. 2003. With Intent to Destroy: Reflecting on Genocide, London: Verso. [Google Scholar], 29. ]