‘The Greatest Permanent Link between this Country and the East’: Cricket Diplomacy at the End of the British Empire in South Asia, c.1932–1950

Abstract This article examines England’s cricketing contacts with India and Pakistan in the 1930s-1940s and the extent to which cricket constituted a situational diplomatic tool for Britain’s bid to retain close ties with its former colonies in the Indian subcontinent. Through a study of cricket diplomacy, it deepens our understanding of the end of the British Empire in South Asia and the provenance of the Commonwealth system. Seeking to analyse cricket’s significance for state-led policy of reconciliation, the article makes three important contributions to the study of imperial and Commonwealth history and the history of sport. First, it calls for a rethinking of the nature of Britain’s co-operation and conflict with South Asia by examining a form of cultural exchange (in this case, cricket) as a forum of diplomacy at both public and institutional levels. Secondly, it enhances the understanding of sport’s role in Britain’s Commonwealth and postcolonial relations. It gives special attention to political consciousness in Britain around the question of decolonising South Asia by analysing views on cricket as a vehicle for internationalism. Thirdly, it offers new insights into the internal tensions and divergent interests of state and non-state actors in mediating post-war international collaboration and the British sphere of influence. In this regard, it discusses cultural diplomacy as a means of shaping Britain’s international outlook, and enriches the historiography of state-led cultural missions.