`WHAT DO THEY KNOW OF CRICKET WHO ONLY CRICKET KNOW?'

Abstract

This article charts developments in cricket during the past decade to explore issues related to social transformation and redress in post-apartheid South Africa. It examines who is benefiting from change, whether change is driven by or being resisted by Whites, and whether there is tension among Blacks regarding transformation. This study found that the attitude of Blacks has evolved from acceptance of all-White cricket teams to calls for inclusion of some `players of colour' to demands for selection quotas and, finally, demands for African control. Cricket has failed to create an imagined South African community. Change is being forced on unwilling Whites, while there is increasing tension among Blacks regarding opportunity and resource allocation. This mirrors how the demands for transition are being negotiated in the wider society in post-apartheid South African society. The calls for Africanization have become inexorable in all sectors and organizations. Though race-based, change is significant because of the historical legacy of apartheid, and given that the economy and spatial arrangements continue to sustain racial identity in post-apartheid South Africa.