Hatch Shield

[Graeme Cook]

Early this year I watched a Hatch shield match u/15 local Western Suburbs cricket match Hoppers Crossing v Werribee.
I was shocked to see no Australian boys represented all Indian and Sri Lankan boys.
This is not a racists post my question is aren't the Aussie boys good anough or do they loose interest at that age.

 

[akkaps]

Early this year I watched a Hatch shield match u/15 local Western Suburbs cricket match Hoppers Crossing v Werribee.
I was shocked to see no Australian boys represented all Indian and Sri Lankan boys.
This is not a racists post my question is aren't the Aussie boys good anough or do they loose interest at that age.

I think you also have to look at the two suburbs that you have mentioned. Both of the suburbs are full of newly migrated subcontinental families. I've seen other clubs full of subcontinental players in places like Craigieburn, Jacana, Fawkner.
This isn't a new thing

 

[#RICHMOND15]

As far as I'm concerned, if those kids live here and have lived here for who knows how long, they are Australian, plain and simple

 

[Gough]

Most of those kids would probably be first generation Australians just like me.

 

[Nuggetz]

Those kids are as Australian as anyone else but I assume the OP means anglo kids. One is location, same thing in Sydney. I've seen teams full of anglo kids & adults. The other is those kids might also tend to lean towards footy more, where there is sparse representation from subcontinental background. So the difference is noticeable.

I'm unsure of Melb but in Syd winter cricket has boomed in popularity, shorter amount of overs etc so we see a lot of older adults who are of anglo background prefer to play it, alongside those from subcontinental background.

 

[akkaps]

Those kids are as Australian as anyone else but I assume the OP means anglo kids. One is location, same thing in Sydney. I've seen teams full of anglo kids & adults. The other is those kids might also tend to lean towards footy more, where there is sparse representation from subcontinental background. So the difference is noticeable.

I'm unsure of Melb but in Syd winter cricket has boomed in popularity, shorter amount of overs etc so we see a lot of older adults who are of anglo background prefer to play it, alongside those from subcontinental background.

I think your definition of Anglo-Indians is a bit off.
Anglo are "half-bloods", where they are both Indian and British is decent.

I think the OP is referring to and Gough as well, is that they are first or second generation Australians. At the U15 level, it would more likely be second generation Australians, whose parents would have moved here in the early 00s or later so that the children were either born here or came here at a young age. For open age teams, including winter cricket, it's usually filled with uni students or newly married couples that have come here to study and play cricket on the weekend

 

[Nuggetz]

I think your definition of Anglo-Indians is a bit off.
Anglo are "half-bloods", where they are both Indian and British is decent.

I think the OP is referring to and Gough as well, is that they are first or second generation Australians. At the U15 level, it would more likely be second generation Australians, whose parents would have moved here in the early 00s or later so that the children were either born here or came here at a young age. For open age teams, including winter cricket, it's usually filled with uni students or newly married couples that have come here to study and play cricket on the weekend

I didn't mean anglo-indians, I meant anglo-saxans. Yes, he's referring to those first generation, second generation. Plenty of open age teams in sydney with either all sub-continent background, mixed or just anglo. The trend is similar to Rugby League where kids from pasifika background have been more prominent in teams.

I think we'll see a similar trend in the next 5-10 years with coaching & administration positions.

 

[corbies]

Australia has been simply awful at keeping kids from subcontinental backgrounds in the traditional cricket set ups in to their adult years. And its much more to do with those systems than it is the kids. It's probably the only demographic growth area CA has so if this is happening it is a great thing for cricket in Australia.

 

[Gough]

At least their folks understand cricket, one day those kids will have to try to explain Aussie rules to their parents.

Australia has been simply awful at keeping kids from subcontinental backgrounds in the traditional cricket set ups in to their adult years. And its much more to do with those systems than it is the kids. It's probably the only demographic growth area CA has so if this is happening it is a great thing for cricket in Australia.

Last ten years here I've noticed a big increase in Asian members and I assume at some point that will be reflected in representation at board level.

 

[The hands of stone]

Early this year I watched a Hatch shield match u/15 local Western Suburbs cricket match Hoppers Crossing v Werribee.
I was shocked to see no Australian boys represented all Indian and Sri Lankan boys.
This is not a racists post my question is aren't the Aussie boys good anough or do they loose interest at that age.

The club I'm now associated with is also in the western suburbs although a bit more inner .
We have 4 senior sides about 50 on the list , would say half are from the sub continent .
We have 6 junior sides , would say 75% are. Also have a decent portion of kids from Sudanese background .

 

[revo333]

I'm unsure of Melb but in Syd winter cricket has boomed in popularity, shorter amount of overs etc so we see a lot of older adults who are of anglo background prefer to play it, alongside those from subcontinental background.

I read that they started with 9-10 teams and now they have close to 100 or 200 teams for Melbourne winter cricket. I have noticed some summer clubs in my area now enter a team or 2.

I always thought 80 overs a day was 10 overs too long for local cricket, I don't think 2nd eleven cricket needs to be 80 overs anymore.

Playing numbers seem to be inconsistent with local clubs near me, some clubs can still get 5-6 teams while others in the same area can barely get 2-3.

 

[flamethrower]

Not really a surprise. There has been a massive influx of people moving to Australia from India and Sri Lanka, and the vast majority are cricket mad. Many are extremely talented and are therefore selected in representative teams like the Craig (formerly Hatch) Shield.

The other thing that has happened is that boys (and girls) who play Australian Rules football at club level these days play or train 11 months of the year, which makes it difficult for the better athletes to play cricket as well. In the past they would play football in the winter and cricket in the summer.

 

[nobbyiscool]

Happens a lot in football (soccer) as well.

I think it's just that white kids from middle class Australia have all sorts of options when it comes to sport. At Under 15 level they probably aren't focussing on one sport yet, so the kids that follow one sport - kids whose parents come from cricket-mad (or football-mad) cultures - are probably focussing on one sport earlier in life, so they're developing a little earlier

 

[nobbyiscool]

We have 6 junior sides , would say 75% are. Also have a decent portion of kids from Sudanese background .

That's cool. I got to work with a bunch of Sudanese kids when I lived in Tassie, soon after Australia first started taking a lot of refugees from Sudan. And they were just as athletic as I would've expected them to be.

If they can be convinced to stick with cricket in the face of competition from Aussie Rules, football and basketball, there's got to be a Curtly Ambrose among them.