This ambitious new history recounts the politics of cricket around the world since the Second World War, examining key cultural and political themes, including decolonisation, racism, gender, globalisation, corruption and commercialisation. It is essential reading for anybody interested in the contemporary history of sport.

Part 1: Cricket and the End of Empire 1. Fossilised Reactionaries? English Cricket Since 1945 2. A Nation of Blow-Ins? Cricket in Australia Since 1945 3. 'The Partnership of the Horse and its Rider': Cricket in Southern Africa Since 1945 4. A Relative Lack of Interest: Cricket in New Zealand Since 1945 5. Father, King, Statesman, General, Prince, Don: West Indian Cricket Culture Since 1945 6. The Soul of a Nation, Long Suppressed? Cricket in India Since 1945 7. Cricket in a Hard Country: Pakistani Cricket Since 1947 8. 'We Rule Here, You Rule There': Cricket in East Pakistan and Bangladesh Since 1947 9. After Brewing Tea for the Empire: Cricket in Sri Lanka Since 1945 10. Straight Shooting Blokes: Social Distinction, Masculinity and Myth in The Ashes 1945 to 2015 Part 2: Cricket in the Age of Globalisation 11. 'Everyone Seemed to Be 'With It': Cricket Politics and the Coming of the One Day Game, 1940-1970 12. 'Paint a Picture, and Keep it the Right Way Up': Cricket and the Mass Media 1945-2015 13. Women's Cricket: The Feminism That Dared Not Speak Its Name 14. Remove the Gunk in the Middle: The Coming of Twenty20 and the Indian Premier League 15. Have You Made This Team Great, or Have They Made You? Cricket, Coaching, and Globalisation 16. Beyond the Boundaries: The Drive to Globalise Cricket, and its Limits 17. Afterword