Batting for a Multicultural Australia

Australia’s demography has undergone a rapid transformation in the last couple of decades, wherein one in four Australians and 47% parents have been born overseas. In a state like Queensland, one in five Queenslanders and one in three parents have been born overseas. One in ten speak language other than English and overall, 220 languages are spoken across the state and over 100 religious beliefs practiced.

This changing demography is more pronounced during cricketing events when a team from the Indian subcontinent is visiting Australia, bringing more diverse and multicultural fans to the stadium than white Australians. This transformation has not gone unnoticed at Cricket Australia, which champions cricket as an instrument of positive social change. CA released the National Multicultural Cricket Strategy in 2014 which reflects CA’s vision for enriching cultural diversity and leaving a legacy that helps unify and connect all Australians. Now CA is passionately promoting more engagements with young people, and encouraging local clubs into becoming more welcoming and culturally inclusive.

Queensland government too, has galvanised its multicultural connect after passing the Multicultural Charter in 2017. Responding to this demographic transformation, Queensland Cricket (QC) has created the Queensland Cricket Foundation to fundraise and create initiatives for a positive change. The Foundation rests on four broad pillars:

Terry Svenson

Geoff Teys

Dr Ashutosh Misra

1) Indigenous health & wellbeing;

2) female and all-inclusive program & initiative;

3) developing infrastructure and facilities; and

4) supporting experiences for disadvantaged youth.

To further expand the Foundation’s outreach, QC in strategic alignment with CA has now created a dedicated project called Project Multicultural espousing the following key priorities:

- enhancing engagement with the diverse multicultural communities, especially during the ICC T20 world cup, and beyond;

- partnering with the Usman Khawaja Foundation to deliver Woolworths Cricket Blast Programs;

- establishing social formats such as tape ball leagues;

- rolling out Queensland Cricket’s Nations Cup; and

- developing multicultural network for promoting diversity and inclusion by engaging with the diverse multicultural community organisations and clubs.

Dr Ashutosh Misra, who has been appointed as Project Officer- Multicultural says, “It is a double delight and pride for me to be associated with Queensland Cricket and the project as a longtime cricket tragic and also a passionate member of the Indian community. It is an opportunity to utilise cricket as an icebreaker for not only building a more resilient society but also building a lasting legacy for QC as a champion of social change and inter-community understanding. Multiculturalism is not only his, but everyone’s business”.

Such sentiments are also shared by Geoff Teys, GM - Government Relations, Infrastructure & Community Cricket. He observes, “This is an exciting period for cricket, and Queensland Cricket in particular.”

“Our purpose is to promote and grow cricket to ensure all Queenslanders can play, participate and enjoy this great game, and Project Multicultural will play a prominent role in achieving our vision of being Queensland’s leading sport.”

QC CEO Terry Svenson has been engaging with Dr Misra for some time in promoting the India vs Australia women’s cricket series and also the Goodwill Cup involving the Institute for Australia India Engagement XI and Queensland Police Commissioner’s XI which was held on 17th September at the Home of Cricket in Queensland, the iconic Allan Border Field. Dr Misra is the CEO of IAIE, National Sports Chair with the Australia India Business Council, and Editor-in-Chief, India News Australia which engage with QC in promoting multicultural engagements around cricket. Mr Svenson believes, “Strong ties within our community, especially through existing networks which support and promote cricket, are vital. We are delighted to have Dr Misra providing his insights and expertise and look forward to delivering our goals during the summer.”