No climate for cricket: how global warming is putting the heat on NZ’s summer game
Retrieved on:
Saturday, December 30, 2023
Cricket, Paris Agreement, Annual report, Skiing, Risk, Athlete, International Cricket Council, Rain, Olympic Truce, Flood, Air pollution, International, NZC, NBA, United Nations, Climate change, Water, Formula, Sport, Cricket World Cup, Humidity, Time, New Zealand Cricket, Carbon, Safety, World Rugby, Climate, Cricket Australia, Sports equipment
But there was one thing the organisers did not want those viewers to see (other than India’s defeat by Australia in the final): cricket’s own climate crisis.
Key Points:
- But there was one thing the organisers did not want those viewers to see (other than India’s defeat by Australia in the final): cricket’s own climate crisis.
- As Indian captain Rohit Sharma remarked, “It is not ideal and everyone knows that.” The United Nations describes the threat more forcefully.
Cricket and the climate Crisis
- As an outdoor summer game in which the natural environment plays a unique role, cricket is perhaps the pitch sport most at risk from a changing climate.
- Read more:
Time for a reckoning: Cricket Australia, fossil fuel sponsorship and climate changeThe threat is compounded by the precarious regions in which cricket is played.
- At the same time, cricket is not merely a potential victim of the climate crisis, it is a contributor to it.
Sport and Sustainability
- For a game facing a potential existential crisis, cricket’s sustainability efforts have been slow by comparison with other sports.
- Both FIFA and World Rugby have sustainability plans, as do Formula One and most American sports leagues, including the NBA.
- By contrast, the International Cricket Council has not published a sustainability strategy.
Inaction in New Zealand
- New Zealand Cricket (NZC) is as silent on climate as many of its global counterparts.
- It also notes the “cyclones, floods and related civil emergencies” that caused these cancellations were “well beyond its control”.
- At a time when game is struggling to attract participants, climate change is making it harder for recreational cricketers to play.
- New Zealand Cricket’s mission statement states:
We think ahead and pay it forward.
Chris McMillan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.