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Paper short abstract:

Since the mid-eighties, many young Caribbean hopefuls, unable to be part of the West Indies cricket team, seasonally migrate to play in a semi-professional cricket league in Trinidad. A focus on these migrant athletes in Trinidad offers a window into how masculinity is constructed through such postcolonial urban sensory contact zones.

Paper long abstract:

For a vast majority of young Caribbean men seeking to move out of poverty and obscurity, becoming a professional cricketer is arguably the most coveted life choice. A lucky few play for the West Indies cricket team, a supranational entity composed of players from 15 Caribbean countries, while the others play in competitions located in the constituent nations. Since the mid-eighties, many young Caribbean hopefuls, unable to be part of the West Indies cricket team, seasonally migrate to play in a semi-professional cricket league in Trinidad, one of the richest countries in the Caribbean. Guyanese players are the largest group of overseas athletes in the Trinidadian domestic cricket league. Although geographically located in South America, Guyana is historically and culturally part of the Caribbean and one of the poorest economies in the region. However, once in Trinidad, these athletes recognize that they cannot support themselves solely as cricketers and participate in various menial works arranged by the clubs. While being from Guyana creates the conditions of the athletes’ mobility, namely the opportunity to play cricket, it may also become an obstacle in everyday life, as when they are perceived as ‘backward’ because of their accent. To the dismay of many Trinidadian men, many of these athletes succeed in forming sexual and romantic relationships with Trinidadian women and permanently settle there. A focus on Guyanese athletes in Trinidad offers a window into how masculinity is constructed through such postcolonial urban sensory contact zones.