Caught Chandrasinghe, bowled Sangha: Young guns change the face of Australian cricket

Caught Chandrasinghe, bowled Sangha. It sounds like the fall of an Australian wicket, but in the years to come it may become how Australia take another wicket: one with its roots on the subcontinent for the baggy green.

For a country with such a rich history of migration from south Asia, there have been few cricketers to have represented Australia at senior level. Only Usman Khawaja, Lisa Sthalekar and, to a lesser extent, Ashton Agar have had lengthy international careers, which seems under-representative given cricket’s prominence in that part of the world.

Ashley Chandrasinghe is part of the new face of Australian cricket.Credit: Jason South

Traditionally the domain of white Australia, cricket at the top levels in this country is slowly - and belatedly - shifting to better reflect the nation’s multiculturalism.

Players such as NSW pair Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha (no relation) and Victoria batter Ashley Chandrasinghe, who made a century on first-class debut last week, are part of the changing face of Australian cricket. Each state has a player with subcontinental heritage on their senior men’s list.

Victoria have this season handed baggy blues to two of Sri Lankan descent: top-order batter Chandrasinghe and 31-year-old leg-spinner Ruwantha Kellapotha, who started his career in his homeland.

Jason Sangha, who received his first state contract while still at school, has long been a player of national interest to selectors. Aged 18 years and 68 days, he became the second-youngest player to score a first-class ton against England. Sachin Tendulkar is the youngest.

Ashley Chandresinghe made a century on first-class debut for Victoria.Credit: Getty

Though yet to play for Australia, leggie Tanveer Sangha was named for his first international tour last year after bursting through in the Big Bash. Both Sanghas have claims to be future Test players.

Why the sudden influx of south Asian players at the top ranks? It is not difficult to find players of south Asian heritage playing the game in the suburbs of Melbourne or Sydney but until recently administrators have had trouble converting them to organised competitions, whether it be for perceptions of racism, cultural barriers or the sport’s failure to acknowledge how different communities played their cricket.

There’s the “Uzzie” factor. An inspiration on the field, he is also making a difference off it through the Usman Khawaja Foundation, which runs clinics at Islamic schools after hours.

The foundation has grown from 2000 participants from South Asian backgrounds and 10 programs last year to 7000 and 50. Programs such as those run by the UKF are part of a strategic shift by Cricket Australia.

“Previously, it’s almost like cricket has to happen in a club set-up and if it doesn’t it’s not real cricket,” CA’s head of community cricket James Allsopp said. “I think we’re more open and accepting now of taking cricket to the way people want to play cricket.”

CA says clubs have realised they have not been as inclusive as they could be. For example, what appeal does the ritual of a beer and snag after training hold for a Muslim? Khawaja has spoken widely of his struggle to connect with the national men’s team as a child.

“A lot of those exclusive behaviours are not intentional,” Allsopp said. “Once you do realise they are [exclusive] you can put plans in place to make sure they are more welcoming to everybody.”

Nic Bills, 30, a former state player who is now Cricket NSW’s pathway manager, has seen change at his grade club Sydney.

“Most Thursdays when you announce a team you have a beer or a sausage, nobody would think we’d need a halal or veg option and get soft drinks,” Bills said.

“Now I know at Sydney every second Thursday we have team announcements there’ll be halal meat, beef and pork sausage, chicken and vegetarian options and plenty of soft drinks so they feel more part of the club rather than just a number on the field. That would be mirrored across Sydney.

“If players feel included they hang around longer in terms of playing years, and that’s where they get more opportunities to be identified.”

A multicultural participation specialist for Cricket Victoria, Rohail Akhtar, says local councils have played a big role in educating and raising awareness of such issues to their sporting clubs.

Members of the Carlingford Waratah Juniors at Kingsdene Oval in Sydney.Credit: Wolter Peeters

“Clubs have become more open to have their club be representative of their community,” Akhtar said.

Bills said of the 1500-2000 registered players in associations in Blacktown, Fairfield and Parramatta in Sydney’s west 90 per cent identified as being from a south Asian background. India is now Australia’s largest source of migration, which is also reflected in junior club cricket in Melbourne’s outer western suburbs.

It’s expected there will be a minimum of three or four players of subcontinental heritage in NSW’s under-19s metro squad this year. Victoria’s under-17 male emerging players squad had almost a third with subcontinental names.

Encouragingly for cricket, Chandrasinghe said diversity and inclusion has not been an issue in his career, and he has never felt the “odd one out” during his junior days playing in Melbourne’s outer south-east.

“Being Australian is all I know. Playing Premier Cricket after the game you go into the change rooms and mingle with the opposition and share a beer or soft drink. That’s the unwritten rule you do after a hard day of cricket.

“The focus on diversity, equal opportunity has increased, not that I ever saw an issue at Casey-South Melbourne which is why I’m really happy there. There’s more awareness of people being treated correctly.”

Though he has always seen himself as Australian, the messages of support he has received from the Sri Lankan community have taught him he is also representing his heritage.

“People see you as their representation even if it’s something that I’m not actually consciously trying to do,” Chandrasinghe said. “I’ve got to take that into consideration with behaviour.

“I’ve seen myself as only being Victorian or Australian. Obviously, I’m dark-skinned when you look at me you’d not think that.”

As part of its multicultural action plan, CA is in the process of refining its data to have a better understanding of the cultural background of players. The 2021-22 Australian Cricket census found multicultural registered participation at clubs rose year-on-year from 121,100 to 126,000. Multicultural participants may have a parent born in the UK.

“We want to know where they actually come from. We do suspect there are more south Asians involved and that’s why we’ve seen the growth in multicultural participation,” Allsopp said.

“We do have a bit more work to do to refine the data so we know exactly where the participants are coming from.

“We’re definitely being more targeted in terms of how we attract south Asian families to our sport.

“There’s no doubt people like Usman Khawaja, Jason Sangha, Ashley Chandrasinghe, who played beautifully the other day, they’re amazing role models. It shows there is a really attractive pathway for all cricketers in Australia if you can progress and have success at all levels of the game.”

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.