On Monday, we woke up to the news that for the sixth consecutive season, Singh was the most common surname among registered cricket players in Australia – followed by Patel, Smith, Sharma and Williams. This is according to Cricket Australia’s 2024-25 census, which also revealed that 103,232 South Asian Australians were registered for cricket participation in the 2024–25 season.
But, why does this matter? And what does it mean for the sport?
Whether it’s watching it on TV with loved ones or joining a local cricket club to forge a sense of belonging and connection, cricket continues to play a big role in the lives of many first and second generation South Asian immigrants in Australia. One of Cricket Australia’s goals in recent years has been to embrace and further foster the South Asian diaspora’s passion for cricket – and these participation numbers play a role in that.
Cricket Australia launched its Multicultural Action plan in late 2023, where the governing body announced 10 key actions including funding and support to increase multicultural representation in the sport, including South Asian representation. CA outlined its hopes to double the number of South Asian people attending matches to 200,000 each annual season, and increase South Asian registered players by 30,000 by 2027 (making it a total of 100,000).
“Almost 20 per cent of participants are of South Asian cultural background and in last year’s youth national championship carnivals 18 per cent of competing players were of South Asian cultural background,” Cricket Australia’s Head of Community Cricket and Capability James Allsopp said in 2023.
The latest figures this week that reveal 103,232 registrations, mean that the 2027 goal of 100,000 registrations has already been achieved – two years ahead of schedule.
Pakistani Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja has been one of the high-profile faces fronting the initiative.
“I’m very Australian, but I grew up very subcontinental,” Khawaja said during a 2023 press conference launching the Multicultural Action Plan. “The things I had to deal with growing up were very different than things that other teammates in my era had to grow up with. I’ve always found it very hard to relate to my teammates in some respects, but also with my coaches.”
Usman Khawaja has been a pivotal part in developing out Multicultural Action Plan, and we're incredibly proud to have him representing Australian cricket on and off the cricket field! #ASportForAll pic.twitter.com/S8pCSFtyZM
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) December 22, 2023
Speaking of some of the particular challenges during his career as a South Asian Australian cricketer, Khawaja explained: “All my coaches were white Australian, all the selectors were white Australian and they didn’t really understand me or my culture.
“For a long time Cricket Australia has been a very white-dominated sport,” he added. “Hopefully this will be a legacy that lasts long into the future where we can see greater representation, both male and female, in Australian cricket.”
The sport is gradually seeing a new fave of South Asian talent, with the below being some standout examples:
- Jason Sangha and Niv Krishna touring MRF Academy in Chennai for a 13-day tour with Australia Men’s development squad
- Tanveer Sangha and Jason Sangha recently featured in Australia A vs Sri Lanka A men’s series in Darwin 2025.
- Aryan Sharma, John James and Yash Deshmukh have been named in the Australia Men’s U19 squad for the upcoming series against India.
- Hasrat Gill, Samara Dulvin and Ribya Syan were also named in Australia’s U19 women’s squad for tri-series last year
Top image source: Supplied/Cricket Australia
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