Cricket, drinking and exclusion of British Pakistani Muslims?

Abstract

Throughout history sports cultures and alcohol have been intimately linked. Being able to drink huge amounts of alcohol is a celebrated male athletic virtue. Ridicule and often exclusion is reserved for those who are unable to conform to this. Ritualized drinking is not, and cannot, be enjoyed by all. British Muslims (the majority of whom are of South Asian descent) for instance, are restricted from drinking alcohol due to the demands of Islam. This paper uses data collected from ethnographic research conducted with white British and British Pakistani Muslim cricketers to locate the significance of drinking alcohol in both the inclusion and exclusion of British Pakistani Muslims. We demonstrate that, in negotiating their inclusion, British Pakistani Muslims have to accommodate, negotiate and challenge various forms of inequality and discrimination in their leisure lives.We argue that consuming alcohol calls attention to the challenges of being ‘normal’ within this cultural context.