Indians in Irish club cricket

j2

This has the potential to be immediately disregarded as racist but hopefully it won't be seen as such, and obviously it certainly ain't. I'm out of cricket for about 4 years, played at a 1sts level in the uk for years before I came back to Ireland. I joined a club in Wicklow last year mostly for a social side, which was what I enjoyed about it mostly as a kid. I found it very underwhelming, almost certainly due to the fact that the club was 90% Indian. Some of these guys can play decently but there is no craic out of them. I talked to a couple of guys in bigger clubs and they said they saw the same thing. My best friend in cricket in the uk, funnily enough an Indian guy who played for Middlesex 2s, said basically the same thing happened in greater London.

I am not saying cricket needs to be Irish, that's obviously ridiculous, but the lack of social stuff at certain levels of cricket seems rough with 8 or 9 Indian guys in every team.

iffandonlyif

Despite your protestations, it comes very close to xenophobia. It’s legitimate, I think, to bemoan a club’s change in character when it becomes dominated by a new influx of members. But to dismiss a club as having no ‘craic’ because its players are predominantly Indian (and, one presumes, Pakistani) is just painfully ignorant.

Augme

"I'm not a racist..... but there should be a quote on the number of indians that are allowed play cricket in ireland." 😂

Pawwed Rig

I get what you are saying OP and no I do not think it is racist nor is it much specifically to do with cricket.

It is a clash of cultures whereby Indian and Irish sense of "craic" need not be the same thing. You are now entering an Indian dominated team rather than an Irish dominated and for better or worse there is a different dynamic. If you had been brought up in Indian culture you might think they are a great bunch. Equally what Irish people might see as "craic" can often be deemed insulting in other cultures. If you are interested in learning Indian culture then keep going. If you just want a laugh and a few beers then that might not be the place for you and there is absolutely nothing wrong with having either preference imo. Although some will cry racist/sexist where a personal preference is exerted I certainly wouldn't see it that way.

For comparison I interviewed for a position a few years ago where all of the other staff would have been Chinese. I didn't have the headspace to be an outsider in my place of work where the functional language would have been Mandarin so I turned it down. Some would say that this is racist but meh.....

Burkie1203

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120582804#Comment_120582804

When i played years ago, the Indian members were allowed to host an Indian night at the club and there was never an invitation to the non Indian club members to attend. I would imagine an "irish night" ran in the same manner would provoke outrage.

Raj.ynwa

This is an interesting topic. As Indian born but coming here at 10 years of age and growing up here, I understand the difference in cultures very closely. The craic before a soccer/GAA match is different but relatively the same in what I experienced playing cricket with my Indian cousins/friends. I do feel there is less of a drinking culture post cricket matches and hanging out when compared to other amateur sports.
It does come down to a lot of differences in the cultures, languages and typical banter. Here in the west of Ireland, there are no old clubs that existed or were kept alive by the locals compared to Dublin or even Cork. The Indians in the community here in the west have literally started 4-5 clubs in the past 5 years. These clubs have multiple teams and some even underage teams. Now these clubs are attracting the local folks also.
So yes, the banter/craic is different because you did not grow up with the culture and the language, but switch the sides, the Indians that have immigrated here recently and joined the clubs to play a sport that is practically their religion, may also feel the same towards the locals.
At the end of the day, the more clubs = more exposure of cricket at every level. Bring a curry with you next time :)