The development of cricket in China

© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This article analyses the historical and future potential development of cricket in China, and in so doing advances existing theories of the sport’s cultural diffusion. Following a critical review of existing explanatory models, the article identifies four key phases in the game’s development in China (including Hong Kong). It outlines the game’s contemporary manifestation in relation to state-supported cricket, a grass roots movement, and the distinct and independent game in Hong Kong. It concludes by illustrating how the future of cricket in China will be shaped by the increasingly blurred relationship between the colonial and postcolonial, the renewed interdependence of trade and soft power, the role of education in stimulating interest beyond the traditional colonial model, and the importance of game innovations and multiple, co-existing formats. Uniquely combining English and Mandarin sources this article provides the most comprehensive, rigorous and up-to-date analysis of cricket in China available.