In a state like Queensland, one in five Queenslanders and one in three parents have been born overseas. One in ten speak languages other than English and overall, 220 languages are spoken across the state and over 100 religious beliefs are practised.
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 to become more welcoming and culturally inclusive.
Dr Ashutosh Misra has been appointed as Project Officer-Multicultural with Queensland Cricket.
Dr Misra told The Australia Today, “It is a double delight and pride for me to be associated with Queensland Cricket and the project as a long-time 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/her but everyone’s business,”
added Dr Misra.
Such sentiments are also shared by Geoff Teys, GM – Government Relations, Infrastructure & Community Cricket.
He told The Australia Today, “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.”
Queensland government has also 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 develop initiatives for positive change. The Foundation rests on four broad pillars:
- Indigenous health & wellbeing;
- female and all-inclusive program & initiative;
- developing infrastructure and facilities; and
- 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 a multicultural network for promoting diversity and inclusion by engaging with diverse multicultural community organisations and clubs.
Besides, Dr Misra is the CEO of IAIE, National Sports Chair with the Australia India Business Council, and Editor-in-Chief, India News Australia which engages with QC in promoting multicultural engagements around cricket.
Queensland Cricket’s CEO Terry Svenson says, “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.”
