Detailed Analysis and Discussion of Research Findings

Introduction

This dissertation began by providing a solid background around this area of study, providing specific research questions that I sought to answer. I provided to engage in a mixed methodology study approach utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methodologies and completed an analysis of all available data. In this section, I hereby provide a detailed discussion of the same results as per my data analyses. I have provided themes observed in the research and discussed them in detail.

Cricket Participation amongst Population

The purpose of this discussion is to provide insight into the levels of participation and the various people who actually participate in the playing of this game. My dissertation is specifically designed to provide such insight as to show who really likes to play cricket, what form of the game are they most excited about. Generally, from an open discussion with some of my interviewees, I found out that there is a generic fanaticism for the cricket game. At the minimum, the average person has some knowledge of the game, and a significant portion of the population pretty understands the game. Nonetheless, some of my respondents highlighted that the knowledge and likelihood of participation in cricket are highly dependent on whether a person’s parents participated in cricket. People whose parents participate in the game are also highly likely to join a team in accordance with some set of preferences. Interacting with my respondents, I deciphered that there is a common understanding that cricket participation is declining, with a reduction in the number of teams in various locations. A significant fact that I have noted is that cricket is a game with participants consisting of both youths and relatively aged persons. Nonetheless, the characteristics between the various population groups against the game vary significantly and I managed to study this aspect.

According to my quantitative data analyses, it really matters what age a person has in regard to the format of cricket they love. My dissertation has endeavored to particularly explore the correlation between the age of individuals and format of cricket (Vickery, 2018) preferred. In the population that this study covered, there are clear patterns of age-cricket format preference. For instance, 8% of the population studied (5 persons) who are aged 40 years and above –all love one format of cricket: 1. This age group is so interested in the study for the clarity of dependence seen between their age and the format category 1 of the game. Most interestingly, out of the 8% segment said - none has an affinity for any other format of cricket, not even one person. Again, 56.7% of persons in the age group 18-24 years have the preference for the cricket format categorized as 2. Only 20% of the same age group prefers cricket format category 1, and only 23.3% of such ages prefer cricket format 3. Therefore, as depicted in my data analyses, a person’s age highly contributes to the choice of cricket format preferences. Nonetheless, people of a certain age group have an averagely common format of cricket that they hold as their favorite. It is therefore not surprising that none of the respondents over 40 years of age liked anything other than cricket format 2.

As per my chi-square test, where χ2(4) = 14.752; p=0.005: since the p-value is less than the critical alpha value of 0.05, the study boldly proves that there is a highly significant relationship between the age of an individual and cricket format. This finding is sufficient to corroborate the observed tendency of the population to cluster in certain formats by age.

Cricket Participation Patterns and Changes

This part of the discussion seeks to give some more details on the level of cricket participation over time and across different population groups. Previous research has identified that there is a clear decline (Cronin, 2017) that been witnessed in overall cricket participation. This theme calls for more research work to identify the said declines in the participation of cricket. In this study, I obtained some pretty good insights regarding the game’s participation so far. Consider the following quote: “Some clubs in our area have four or five teams but this is reducing down to three and you can see the participation levels are decreasing which is quite sad to see, so yeah mass participation and ensuring people can put out teams is a big challenge.”

The change in participation (Cronin, 2017) however, is also partially structured. For instance, by the factor of age, either participation in a match or even attendance is highly correlated with the format of cricket being played. In my quantitative data analysis with SPSS, as per chi-square test χ2(2) = 13.599; p = 0.001 Since the p-value or the significance value is less than the critical alpha value of 0.05, it shows that there is a statistically significant interaction between test match participation and format. Based on the age of a person, we, therefore, expect a different level of participation in cricket test matches because the format being played also varies. My statistical analysis showed that people attend a test match that is in line with their preferences. For instance, in this study, out of 17 individuals who have cricket format 1 as their favorite, 15 attended a format 1 test match while only 2 attended format 2 test match. This high level of correlation therefore certainly exists and highly characterizes the level of participation observed. Some matches may, therefore, suffer poor participation especially if the participant age group is not as vast as some age groups which have more people involved in a certain form of cricket. Nonetheless, while speculations attempting to explain general cricket participation decline exist (Jones, 2016) such as the hinted rise of the white ball, more research is needed to fully understand the decline in cricket participation.

ECB Support for Cricket and Participation Levels

In this study, I obtained an interesting interaction with my respondents raising aspects of ECB support for cricket. Several of my respondents who are actively engaged in cricket noted that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) (Astle, 2018) narrowly supports cricket or it never does offer any support. The average response alluded that the ECB has not been according to cricket significant support in terms of funding. Consider the following quote from one of the respondents in response to the ECB funding. “They don’t really support us, we come under the ECB umbrella, the ICC wouldn’t have any influence on us.” This is an interesting point that may attempt to explain the noted decline in the game. Should the ECB be indebted to cricketers, they would certainly have a great part to play in the successfulness or failure of cricket participation. Additional research could provide insight into the contribution of the ECB to the alluded cricket participation drop.

Cricket attendance comparison

As shown in the statistical analysis, in assessing the relationship between test match attended and last time test match attached. As per chi-square test, χ 2 (3) = 54.900; p = 0.000. The p-value e is less than the critical alpha value of 0.05; this shows that there is statistically significant interaction between test match and last time test match attached. Additionally, 17 participants preferred format one, 32 participants preferred format two while 14 participants liked format three. Thus, cricket format two attracted the most number of fans. In assessing the last time that participants attended a cricket match visa viz the format of the cricket, the study revealed that 35 individuals attended the cricket game while only 28 attended the test match in four consecutive times.

This is attributed to the fact that test cricket is one of the oldest formats of cricket and it is considered to be of the highest quality. Similarly, most of the test matches are played among national representative teams, and the test status is evaluated and conferred by the ICC. Additionally, test cricket is considered as a real thing among cricket fans since it provides unmatched competence between the ball and the bat. It requires high mental strength and character to win the game.

Notably, cricket is divided into a wide array of discrete events, with each event played out by a different composition of the team. In this context, the game is broken down into different packages of heightened focus of bowler and the bat's man. For this reason, test cricket tests the skills of the player in the sense that it gives the player an opportunity to attack and defend but does not give the player a chance to hide. Indeed, it is all about real battle in the field. Also, most people prefer test cricket over one day international and 20twenty international tournaments because the game is spread over five days. As mentioned earlier test cricket is broken down to sessions of battles that are won and lost. In this context, it gives the players an opportunity of multiple chances to win the game over a long period. On the other hand, spectators feel entertained and follow these events keenly.

The advantage of test cricket is that it elevates spectator’s appreciation to a different level. The battle between the batsman and the bowler keeps the audience fascinated .unlike one-day international and twenty 20 internationals which are played on one day, test match cricket is the best format in the world (Zama, 2019). Further, test matches contribute to patriotism as more fans often watch the game in support of their respective nationally representative team. In retrospect, the game of cricket evokes happiness, excitement as well as disappointments. Depending on the connection between the audience and players, extreme forms of expression are often at display in arenas. Test matches suppress national barriers as the groups represent multiple countries and regions worldwide (Malcolm, & Velija, 2017). For this reason, test matches are mainly used to spread national cohesiveness and to contain minority hatred.

Ethnic group and cricket format

In the recent past, cricket has become a global sport since it has become associated with national identity. Race and ethnicity are critical aspects of cultural development of states. Moreover, the early international cricketing competition featured only developed countries such as Australia, England, Canada, and South Africa. In addressing contemporary themes in a cricket game, it's important to investigate whether ethnicity is a dominant theme in cricket game structuring. According to Widener (2017), Cricket Australia has adopted racial and religious vilification code which stipulates the codes of conducts of all cricket players at national contests. The code prohibits players from the engagement of acts that would perpetrate insults, intimidation, threatens or humiliates other players on the basis of creed, race, color, ethnic origin and descent (Farrington et al., 2017). In this context, the aforementioned codes promote human rights as well as equality among cricket players worldwide.

In a survey conducted to assess the trends in cricket participation in Australia 2004 and 2005, indicated an increase in cricket participation with 5.4% annual growth and a 13.61% growth in 2005 to 2006. Also, the study revealed that there is a need to increase cricket participation among children, girls and indigenous and minority groups. According to Lenskyj (2018), cricket in India is more associated with feelings of patriotism. Alluding to Reeves (2017), sports acts as a platform for constructed gendered nationalism by serving as a masculine domain where different conceptions of hegemonic masculinity are reinforced and developed.

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In investigating the relationship between the ethnic group and cricket format, five different ethnics groups were interviewed about three formats of the cricket game. The results revealed that different ethnic groups enjoyed different formats of the crickets indiscriminately. Among the ethnic groups 30 out of 61 participants preferred format two, 17 respondents preferred format one while 14 respondents preferred format three. Moreover, the chi-square tests X2(8) =14.959; p=0.060. Since the p-value is greater than alpha value, then it is clear that there is no statistically significant interaction between ethnic group and cricket formatting. According to Stewart-Withers (2016), cricket plays an essential role in suppressing marginalization and exclusion through the enactment of the code of conduct that stipulates how players are supposed to behave in promoting national integration and cohesion. For this reason; it promotes trust as well as the sense of belonging to the members of the society. Widening participation in cricket game is the critical focus of ICC. Notably, the community’s involvement in sport proactively addresses distinct needs and issues affecting the community as well as overcome problems of inequality and participation (Jeanes, O’Connor, & Alfrey, 2015).

References

• Astle, A. L. (2018). Sport Development in Action: Plan, Programme and Practice. . Routledge.
• Cronin, M. a. (2017). The imperial game in crisis: English cricket and decolonisation. British culture and the end of empire.
• Farrington, N., Hall, L., Kilvington, D., Price, J., & Saeed, A. (2017). Sport, racism and social media. Routledge.
• Jeanes, R., O’Connor, J., & Alfrey, L. (2015). Sport and the resettlement of young people from refugee backgrounds in Australia. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 39(6), 480-500.
• Lenskyj, H. J. (2018). Gender, Athletes’ Rights, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Emerald Publishing Limited.
• Lungani Zama (2019, February 17). Test cricket is the best format in the world. Available from https://www.iol.co.za/sport/cricket/test-cricket-is-the-best-format-in-the-world-19348238
• Malcolm, D., & Velija, P. (2017). Cricket: the quintessential English game?. Routledge.
• Reeves, K., Ponsford, M., & Gorman, S. (Eds.). (2017). Managing expectations and policy responses to racism in sport: codes combined. Routledge.
• Stewart-Withers, R., Sewabu, K., & Richardson, S. (2016). Sport Management Review.
• Vickery, W. e. (2018). Comparison of the physical and technical demands of cricket players during training and match-play. tch-play.", 32(3), 821-829.
• Widener, D. (2017). Race and Sport. The Oxford Handbook of Sports History, 461.