Premier’s Westfield History Scholarship
Sport and Imperialism:
The bonds of Empire between the
Mother Country and a Loyal Dominion
Christopher Bradbury
The King’s School
Sponsored by
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Focus of the study
The focus of my research was on the way sport played an important role in the
transmission of imperial and national ideas in Australia from the late nineteenth century
onwards. British imperialism depended on the need to establish strong cultural bridges
with Australia and sport enabled the “Mother Country” to exert her power and
dominance over a young dominion.
The study consisted of a series of profiles on key sporting moments that best illustrate
the development of Australia’s relationship with the ‘Mother Country’ including:
 the British Imperial Sporting Ethic and the conflict between imperialism being
perceived in Australia as a form of British nationalism;
 the way paternalism replaced hostility in the 1850s and 1860s as large numbers of
Aborigines were encouraged to play cricket on country stations and missions
culminating in the 1968 Aboriginal tour to England;
 how the early cricket tests between England and Australia set up a passionate
tradition of rivalry and assisted in paving the way for national maturity and
political federation;
 the social and political consequences of the Bodyline series and how it coincided
with the Statute of Westminster in Australia’s desire for national self
determination and identity with a sense of imperial purpose;
 profile on the ‘Rugby Split’ and its impact on the development of Rugby Union
and Rugby League in Australia and Great Britain.
The study provides teachers and students with a wonderful opportunity to appreciate
how sport was a potent force present in the formative political stages of European
Australia and how it allowed our nation to develop as an independent dominion.
The Bonds of Empire between the Mother Country and
a Loyal Dominion
Sport played a major role in the transmission of imperial and national ideas from the late
nineteenth century onwards. Cricket, in particular, came to have a special meaning for
the Empire. The regular Test matches between England and Australia that began in the
1880s were tremendously popular in both countries by the end of the century. As the
British Empire grew throughout the nineteenth century, the intention was to transmit the
British imperial sporting ethic throughout the colonies and dominions. This process was
executed as an attempt to build cultural bridges throughout the Empire and to establish a
strong competition through sport. In fact, sport played an influential role in creating a
climate of friendship that would bind the nations within the Empire together.
Alternatively, the strong rivalry perpetuated between the Mother Country and her
dominion’s also led to some divisive confrontations, none more notable then the
‘Bodyline Controversy 1932-1933’ which almost destroyed the bonds of Empire. Out of
all the sports that developed throughout the Empire, it was cricket that best symbolised
these strong links and reinforced the developing political and social relationship between
England and Australia.
An essential part of British imperialism was an attempt to transmit the British imperial
sporting ethic throughout the colonies. The British Imperial Sporting Ethic can be
defined as the facilitation and promotion of sporting ideals, values and practices. It was
believed that sport would play an important function in helping England share a
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common interest with fellow colonies and compete with them on the sporting field to
ease the tension that may have existed. As Mangan strongly argues ‘sport was as much an
intended source of social cohesion – a cultural bond – as it was a means of social control.
This imperial bonding was affected by means of sports rituals, myths and symbols which
were acted and re-enacted and served as powerful instruments of cohesion, loyalty and
emulation. Sport was an influential manifestation of shared values’i .
Sport played an important role in British society and there was a strong belief that the
ideals associated with sport could assist Britain in other areas such as war and
colonialism. The key objective within English society was that in order for the Empire to
expand, ‘sporting values such as fitness, co-operation, team-work and perseverance
needed to be harnessed throughout Britain and then transmitted throughout the colonies
of the Empire’. This would assist in forming solid relationships with the other colonies
and establishing a powerful Empire that would be feared by the rest of Europe.
The entrance to Lords Cricket Ground, the home of cricket. The icons represent the values of cricket and
the British Imperial Sporting Ethic such as competitiveness, loyalty and fair play.
Therefore, in order for the British imperial sporting ethic to be transmitted successfully
throughout the Empire, the notion of imperial socialisation had to be enforced. Imperial
socialisation ‘incorporates at least two major elements including enculturation, the
process of aggressive induction into the dominant culture, and acculturation, the process
of acquiring more passively, through contact, elements of this culture’ii. Once these two
factors were achieved, the eventual result would be that the British imperial sporting
ethic would be established throughout the Empire and would ensure the survival of the
imperial system. Schools in England were strong supporters of this view arguing that
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‘imperialism was a moral endeavor and they were the repositories of effective moral
education’iii. In England, educational institutions such as Harrow and Eton prided
themselves on sporting success and believed they had an obligation to educate its young
men to be fine ambassadors in ensuring the Empire’s success in the future. As Glenys
Williams, Historian and archivist at Lords stated, “representatives of the MCC, the
Vatican of cricket and Empire in the nineteenth century, was largely dominated by
figures who were educated at Eton and Harrow. They were determined to develop the
game of cricket at home and abroad”iv.
Another important feature of the British imperial sporting ethic can be identified in the
view that sport was not just a matter of education for the Empire but also acted as a
major source of recreation and entertainment for the colonials. Sport helped both to
relieve the tedium of a distant posting and to integrate new arrivals into the small world
of colonial society. This could be useful as well as pleasurable, which is well documented
by Richard Holt who believes, ‘the fact that most members played games and
participated in sports together gave them a similarity of outlook which was clearly
reflected in their handling of administrative matters’v.
Sport, as much as religion or any other form of tradition and culture was highly regarded
by those who colonised Australia. Though it occupied no part of the initial purpose of
British settlement, ‘establishing a sporting culture in Australia came to be viewed as an
important means of maintaining British culture in the Antipodes. Sport was a potent
force present in the formative stages of European Australia.’ The study of sport and
imperialism leads naturally to nationalism; for it was through the channel of imperial
ideology that ‘British nationalism’ – or more accurately the attachment to a certain idea
of Englishness – was most fervently expressed and this was met by the rise of Dominion
nationalism. Cricket is a living expression of post-colonial solidarity. Such is the paradox
of sport and decolonisation. Cricket has helped both to sharpen a sense of nationalism
and to soften its impact on Britain through the maintenance of close sporting contacts
between former colonies and the ‘mother country’.
It was in Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand – the white Dominions,
which achieved statutory self-determination – that the role of sports as a means of
reconciling nationalism with membership of the Empire was most important. Within
Britain the regular presence of visiting cricket teams of a very high quality both provided
a focus for national effort and a break from the familiar round of domestic competition.
The visit of an Australian touring team as early as 1880 prompted Lord Harris to claim
the game of cricket has done more to draw the Mother Country and the colonies
together than years of beneficial legislation could have done.
All dominion sport mediated the desire for national self-determination and identity with
a sense of imperial purpose. The relationship between the elements of nationalism and
imperialism varied according to the historical experience of the individual state. Nowhere
was the sense of shared culture and of Dominion independence more finely balanced
than in Australia. Popular enthusiasm for sport during the nineteenth century was not
peculiar to Australia. The Australian enthusiasm for sport might be explained, at least in
part, ‘by the import of British sports to the colonies from the very early years of
settlement. From this, the Australian sporting obsession is derivative and imitative of
Britain’.
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The Pavilion is the centre piece of Lords. It holds the Long Room where the MCC actively meet to
discuss cricket matters and the dressing rooms.
When Frederick Spofforth took the wicket of W. G. Grace with his second ball in a
match against the MCC during the first Australian tour of England in 1878, he gave
notice of a new power in the world of cricket. When ‘the demon bowler’ took 14 for 90
four years later in an official Test match at the Oval, even ‘The Time’ acknowledged the
beginning of ‘a new epoch in the history of the game’ and offered an obituary for English
cricket summed up in the passage:
‘In affectionate Remembrance of English Cricket, which died at The Oval on 29
August 1882. Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and
acquaintances – The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia’.
A group of Melbourne ladies subsequently provided the England captain with an urn
containing the incinerated remains of a bail and the legend of the Ashes was established.
From that moment the struggle for the Ashes became the focal point of sporting contact
between England and Australia. This quaint trophy was a symbol both of the rivalry and
of the friendship between the two peoples. Cricket had spread quickly in Australia where
leisure time and earning power tended to be significantly higher for working men in
Britain.
The Australian cricket team became a major focus for cultural nationalism. As early as
the 1890s it was starting to be said that the best service England could do for imperial
unity was to take home a losing team. Both countries enjoyed the contest of playing close
test matches, which challenged each player to perform to the best of their ability. The
true beneficiary of such series, ‘every twist and turn of which was followed by large
crowds and in the papers, was the institution of the Test match itself, and with it the
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sense of being culturally so close to people who lived so far away’. Cricket was the only
game, which could draw strong support from all sections of English society and, despite
fierce competitiveness on the field, imperial sentiment was strengthened by this ‘invented
tradition’ of Empire.
Ultimately, beating the mother country at her own game became regarded as a sign of
colonial maturity. Initially, however, deference was shown to visiting English sportsmen,
particularly cricketers who played the great imperial game. Measuring performance
against the English, not only at the select levels but also in the frequent British-born
versus colonial-born matches, was a yardstick of how the Australian environment –
physical, climatic and social – might have undermined traditional British qualities. It’s
important to note that political independence and national unity has not diminished the
Australian desire to beat England at anything. The use of the word ‘test’, which
‘originated as sporting terminology in the cricketing trials of skill and pluck between
Australia and England, on this side of the globe, is applied now for publicity purposes to
all sporting contests between the two countries’.
Bishop James Weldon was the Head Master of Harrow but one of his most exciting
positions was as honorary chaplain to the English cricket team in 1903. Weldon spoke at
length on the importance of cricket contests between England and Australia and also
noted the way Australia embraced the game in comparison to other nations in the
Empire. Weldon described Australia’s relationship with cricket as:
‘It (cricket) flourishes to a much higher degree in some parts of the Empire than
in others: out of England it is carried to a greater perfection in Australia than
anywhere else. Hence a special interest has always attached itself to a Test match
between England and Australia. But international cricket matches are not only
cricket matches. They tend as well to excite and promote a kindly feeling between
nations which take part. They have brought Englishmen to Australia and
Australians to England. They have associated them as members of the same great
national family; they have given them the sense of a “common” home; they have
in some measure at least inspired a generous rivalry of devotion to the same
throne’.
One distinct sign of the growing nationalism in Australian cricket was identified in the
act of barracking. Certain elements of the crowd were overtly hostile from early on. The
‘Poms’, especially those amateurs who were gentlemen both in the sporting and social
sense, were fair game and were expected to maintain their famous stiff upper lip in the
face of crude provocation from the crowd. It was during the 1890s, when the Test match
emerged as a national institution in Australia, that barracking by sections of the crowd
became a problem and a source for complaint.
‘We have been insulted, hooted at and hissed’, wrote A. E. Stoddart, who
captained the England touring team in 1897-8, ‘in every match and on every
ground without exception’. The practice of barracking was to jeer at or taunt the
opposition, either in a vindictive or humorous manner, but it was also used in the
sense of support for the home team. In many respects, ‘barracking can be seen as
normal crowd behaviour rather than the studied silences which were more highly
regarded at cricket matches in the south of England. The only unique aspect of
Australian barracking is its idiom, the distinctive language and humour involved’.
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The key point surrounding the issue of barracking, however, was that it became a symbol
of Australia’s nationhood. Australia actively accepted the game of cricket with great
enthusiasm however chose to change certain traditions to suit their desires. Douglas
Jardine, English captain during the infamous ‘Bodyline Series’ devoted a chapter in his
book In Quest of the Ashes to the behaviour of Australian crowds and barracking. Jardine
comments at the conclusion of the tour, ‘of the several members of the MCC team,
many had played cricket in South Africa, India, West Indies, New Zealand, Canada and
the United States. The behaviour of these crowds in these countries, in our estimation,
was very different from that which was frequently experienced from Australian crowds.
It is not naturally good’.
Leading sports historian Ramachandra Guha comments on the special place cricket holds
in the Indian context stating:
‘For Indian Cricketers, and still more for their fans, a win over England has
mattered more than a victory over other cricket-playing nations. This has
something to do, of course, with the fact that the Australians and the West
Indians have never ruled over us. There is thus an unmistakable political edge to
the Anglo-Indian cricket rivalry’.
Nationalism in England was not just based on the famous cricketing morality that existed
but also looked at the identification of the English with the style of the game and its
heroes. W. G. Grace was not an English national hero because he ‘played the game’: it
was his boundless energy, his competitiveness, his huge stature and simplicity that made
him the quintessence of Englishness. In fact, Grace was a graphic representation of the
true ideals of the British imperial sporting ethic. As C. B. Fry wrote, ‘he played in a grand
manner. He stood bolt upright and swept into every stroke, even a defensive backstroke,
with deliberate and dominating completeness’. The early cricket test series against
Australia gave England the opportunity to exert the principles and values of the British
imperial sporting ethic, which was achieved through the national team and the imagery of
national heroes.
Whilst cricket has produced a strong bond between the Empire and its dominions, it was
the Bodyline Series in 1932-33 which almost triggered a breakdown of these links
between Australia and England. A clear understanding of the infamous series can only be
made by examining the social, economic and political context of the time which
ultimately gave rise to the hostility that occurred. Australia was suffering from the
economic effects of the Great Depression. The initial effects of Depression of the late
1920s meant that Australia’s primary products like wool and wheat – which were mostly
sold to Britain – lost almost half of their value. At the request of a conservative
Australian government, the Bank of England sent a delegation led by Sir Otto Niemeyer
who advocated the sort of belt-tightening policies which some Australians interpreted as
being highly arrogant. One of the strong protesters to these policies was the New South
Wales Premier Jack Lang who opposed the policies preferring to help the unemployed
masses at any cost was to be dismissed by Governor Phillip Game.
This economic disaster prompted a change in Australia’s relationship with England
setting the scene for a fiery confrontation between the two countries in the 1932-33
series. Carl Bridges from The Kings College in London describes the link between the
cricket series and the economic context as, ‘The bodyline business was really a surrogate
for what happened about debt repayment. If Larwood had bowled bounces at Bradman
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in the 1920s, nothing would have happened. It was clear that the context of the 1930s,
and especially the global economy, turned a cricket tour into a political crisis’.
After Bradman’s super human performances in the 1930 Cricket Tour to England,
Douglas Jardine captain of the English team devised a strategy based on leg theory to
restrict the run scoring abilities of Bradman. The tactics involved using the English
bowling attack led by Voce and Larwood to bowl at the body of the Australian batsman
with a heavily guarded leg side field restricting the shot selection of the Australian
batsmen. Although this practice was deemed to be within the laws of the game, it was
against the spirit of cricket and it is this argument that best describes the drama that
unfolded. The Bodyline Controversy is an important incident when evaluating Australia’s
relationship with England because it highlights in the most graphic ways imaginable the
strong cultural bond Australia had with the ‘Mother Country’.
The Bodyline controversy was not caused by any Australian proto-nationalism but by the
injustice felt by Australians when British sides did not abide by the supposedly British
sporting values of ‘fair play’ or refused to accept their opponents as equally as British as
they. This was precisely the basis of much of the anger of Australians during Bodyline. It
was not so much that the English cricket captain Douglas Jardine was engaging in
intimidatory tactics but that he appeared to have departed from the ethical code of the
British gentleman and was using such tactics against fellow Britons. This feeling of
betrayed loyalty was captured by an anonymous ‘Man in the Street’ who published a
pamphlet in Sydney titled The Sporting English, a scathing attack on the English in
response to the 1932-33 cricket tour and its aftermath:
We Australians are at a loss to understand why we, alone of all the Empire, are
singled out for these continual attacks. We claim to be loyal to the throne, and to
uphold the traditions of the British race. Also we pay our debts and are England’s
very best customer within the Empire. When danger threatened, we were of the
first to respond to the call to arms by the Motherland.13
From the outset Australians thought of themselves as British. Even a man of Irish stock
like Bill O’Reilly, when going on tours of England in the 1930s said he was “going
home”. Sir Donald Bradman sometimes referred to himself as a “Britisher” in that he
shared Anglo-Australian values. Such tactics, therefore, during the economic depression
fuelled great anxiety from the Australian public as they were disgusted that the English
would resort to a style of play contrary to British traditions.
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In the Lords museum there is a signed photo of the English Squad that toured to Australia/New Zealand
in 1932-33, the harlequin cap worn by Douglas Jardine and the cricket ball used in the infamous Third Test
at the Adelaide Oval.
Although he proved to be a nightmare for English bowling attacks, Donald Bradman
was equally respected in England as he was in Australia. He emerged as a powerful
symbol of the success of Empire and the role cricket played in establishing strong links
between England and the dominions. As stated by Richard Holt in a tribute to Bradman,
“cricket gave Bradman an arena, a platform if you like which he could not have had if he
had been a great a performer in another sport. The England-Australia series of 1948 was
bigger news than the Olympic Games of London in 1948. If you look at the Press
coverage it’s quite clear that that’s true”.
Bradman established a strong rapport with English people and always made a point of
applauding the performances of his English rivals such as ‘Gubby’ Allen, Harold
Larwood and Walter Hammond. He actively commented on the beauty of the English
countryside and his love for playing on English county grounds and across the United
Kingdom. Bradman was so popular that in a county match against Glamorgan in Cardiff,
the captain deliberately took off one of his leading bowlers late in the afternoon just to
ensure that Bradman would survive the evening and bat on the following morning
ensuring a healthy crowd the following day. Michael Davies describes Bradman’s
influence as:
Bradman acquired heroic status because he unwittingly tied together sport and
nationalism. He was the first sportsman whose successes were seen by fellow
citizens as successes not simply for him, his team and particular sport, but for his
country.
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Therefore, as the Empire expanded throughout the nineteenth century, England planned
to transmit the ideals of the British imperial sporting ethic across the colonies as a means
of building cultural bridges. As a result, the dominions assumed the sports that were
imported and formed an international contest with the ‘mother country’. England
enjoyed the opportunity to play a strong nation, which broke away from the tedium of
just being involved in a domestic county competition. They were determined to beat
Australia and as a result united as a nation through cricket in an attempt to exert its
power and leadership over Australia and the other dominions.
In contrast, cricket in Australia was a mechanism for the shaping of a nation and worked
hard at beating the colonials at their own game. Cricket generated a great deal of
enthusiasm and popularity, and the desire to beat the ‘mother country’ was reflected by
the barracking that took place at cricket matches. The significance of the Australia and
England Test matches is neatly encapsulated in the words of Frank Tyson:
The sporting world would not be the same without the compelling struggle for
supremacy between England and Australia. Romance and drama – and high skill:
those are the ingredients that have made the fight for the Ashes a matter of
passion as a sport. It is with something approaching religious heights that an
Ashes series is contested – and watched.
Conclusion
Site visits to some of the world’s greatest sporting institutions such as Lords Cricket
Ground, The Brit Oval, Wimbledon, Twickenham Stadium, Millennium Stadium and
Murrayfield were excellent places to visit in collecting archival evidence from their
museums and truly understanding the strong sporting links Australia has established with
the United Kingdom. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to interview some of the
world’s leading sport historians and discuss some of the pertinent issues regarding
Anglo-Australian relations in sport. They were gracious with their time and made every
effort to make my experience extremely beneficial and worthwhile.
Bibliography
Colm Fintan Hickey, Pathfinding and Pathmaking: J. A. Mangan and Imperialism, Education and
Socialisation
J. A. Mangan, Making of Imperial Mentalities: Socialisation and British Imperialism, Manchester
University Press
J. A. Mangan, The Games Ethic and Imperialism: Aspects of Diffusion of an Ideal, (Viking)
Interview with Glenys Williams, Lords Archivist and Historian, Friday 12 November at the
Museum of Sydney
Richard Holt, Sport and the British: A Modern History, Clarendon Paperbacks
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