Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Event to examine the history of South Asian cricket in Yorkshire
Dr Thomas Fletcher, Senior Lecturer in the School of Events, Tourism, Hospitality and Languages at Leeds Beckett, will be in conversation with Mobeen Butt, Project Lead for the Heritage Lottery funded project 'From Parks to Pavilions: Documenting the History of Asian Cricket in Yorkshire'. The talk will be held from 5.30 – 7pm on Thursday 27 April in the James Graham building at Leeds Beckett’s Headingley Campus.
Dr Fletcher said: “This Carnegie Conversation has come about due to a chance meeting between myself and Mobeen. Mobeen had sent out a mass email to contacts informing them that he had been awarded some Heritage Lottery money to conduct a research project into South Asian cricket in Yorkshire. I then got in touch to volunteer on the project.
“The overarching aim of Mobeen's project was to trace and showcase the involvement of South Asian communities in cricket in Yorkshire over the last half century. Given my own background and interests of working with South Asian communities in sport (cricket in particular), to be honest, I was quite envious of Mobeen for being able to devote his time to such a fascinating and rewarding project. South Asian communities are a vital part of the current cricket culture in Yorkshire. But, historically, their involvement was certainly not unproblematic and they have been excluded from different aspects of the game, including playing and coaching. It is to some of these issues that this Carnegie Conversation will focus.”
Expected to join Dr Fletcher and Mr Butt as part of a panel of experts are: Mark Arthur, Chief Executive of Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC), and David Young, Chairman of the Bradford Cricket League. The panel will discuss how cricket has featured in the story of South Asian migration to Yorkshire, and how it was developed and played within these communities. They will explore contemporary challenges and ask what is next for cricket in the region. There will also be a showing of the trailer for 'From Parks to Pavilions' and a small exhibition of photographs collected by the project.