This book explores how cricket in South Africa was shaped by society and
society by cricket. It demonstrates the centrality of cricket in the
evolving relationship between culture, sport and politics starting with
South Africa as the beating heart of the imperial project and ending
with the country as an international pariah. The contributors explore
the tensions between fragmentation and unity, on and off the pitch, in
the context of the racist ideology of empire, its 'arrested development'
and the reliance of South Africa on a racially based exploitative labour
system. This edited collection uncovers the hidden history of cricket,
society, and empire in defining a multiplicity of South African
identities, and recognises the achievements of forgotten players and
their impact.