Cricket, Brexit and the Anglosphere

<p>This article explores the relationship between cricket and Brexit. It draws centrally on the concept of the Anglosphere which, while having a long historical lineage, was (re-)evoked and developed a specific contemporary form during debates about the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union. It argues that there are many parallels between the idea of the Anglosphere and cricket, evident for instance in geopolitical formation, race and culture. It subsequently considers how the four major building blocks for the future consolidation of the Anglosphere in a post-Brexit world - common economic spaces; collaborative organizations in technology; sojourner provisions; and security organizations - have shaped the development of cricket in the twenty-first century. However, in each of these cases the analysis shows that there is an imperfect fit between cricket and the Anglosphere which in turn, reveals the fundamentally ideological and in many senses romanticized characteristics of the concept. Moreover, in demonstrating that cricket is the sporting exemplar of an Anglosphere cultural formation, the article shows the futility of the broader project. While Brexit will have a distinctly more limited impact on cricket than other sports, the geopolitics of postcolonial cricket make a return to a pseudo-imperial organization of the game improbable.</p>