An unsung history: the birth of Indian–Australian cricket

Abstract

In October 1935, a touring party embarked on the inaugural tour of India by an Australian cricket team. To a great, and somewhat stereotypical, extent popular representations of Indian–Australian relations are viewed through the lens of cricket–the national game in both countries. This study about a significant, yet overlooked, chapter in sporting history examines the Australian cricketers’ response to the social, racial and political hierarchies of late-colonial India. The experience of the touring party encouraged a re-imagining of ideological perspectives and this research has revealed a uniquely Australian subjectivity to the British colonization of India. The tour between the colony (India) and the dominion (Australia) can be interpreted as an anti-imperial gesture. Both countries were attempting to forge relationships that would be independent from Britain. The role of cricket, itself experiencing a renaissance during the 1930s as it transformed from a largely amateur pursuit to an increasingly professional occupation is interrogated. As part of this transformation international cricket positioned itself as an increasingly politicized global entity within the broader turbulence of the first-half of the twentieth century. All those involved in the tour are now dead. However a close historical analysis of previously lost, highly personalized, primary material (letters, manuscripts, photographs and cricket ephemera) enables an interpretation of the players’ experience. This study argues that sporting events can be interpreted as cultural ciphers yet scholars and the wider sports-writing community have neglected the historical significance of the 1935/36 tour. The unofficial status of the tour and its highly professional emphasis alienated it from the amateur ideals of contemporary Australian cricket. This transnational, multi-disciplinary approach addresses a lacunae in the professional trajectory of cricket. It also provides a new understanding and historical counter narrative of mid-twentieth century Indian–Australian sporting history and cultural exchange.