The HSS Annual Conference 2026 warmly invites you to share your research and celebrate the many dimensions of cricket across the world!
April 8, 2026 to April 9, 2026
LUMS
Over half a century since CLR James’ famous dictum, “What do they know of cricket who only cricket know?", first entered sporting literary history, the great Trinidadian Marxist’s plea for cricket to be understood in all its many social, political and cultural aspects remains unheeded. Despite the endless flow of televised images, commentary and advertising selling evermore garish and truncated incarnations of limited overs cricket, surprisingly little of substance is ever written or even spoken about its broader and deeper significance.
In South Asia, where millions regularly watch and/or play the game, this represents a considerable lacuna in regional research and intellectual life. Much more than just a sport, the importance of cricket in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan extends well ‘beyond the boundary’ to encompass art, culture, society, business and entertainment. It is also a sphere of geopolitical significance that reflects and impacts international relations, nowhere more clearly than the volatile realm of Indo-Pak diplomacy.
Cricket in the Age of Late Capitalism considers the past, present and future of cricket from a number of research and policy perspectives. At the HSS Annual Conference 2026 at LUMS, this discussion will include studying cricket governance and evaluating historical and recent traditions and schools of cricket writing, commentary, analysis and journalism. Additionally, by presenting insights from research and analysis of the game in diverse contexts around the world, we will candidly discuss the political, social, economic, political and aesthetic changes that have occurred at various levels and scales.
Among the many topics of interest, we envisage contributions on cricket’s colonial histories and legacies; contemporary power structures; its linkage with nationalism and populism; its aesthetic evolution; race, class, gender in men’s and women’s cricket; and social and subaltern histories of cricket ‘from below’.
Travel and Participation Support
Accommodation and meals for participants will be covered. Limited travel funding is available so if you require it, please indicate where you are traveling from. We aim to take a broad view of cricket across the globe. However, we are deeply interested in conversations led by researchers in the West Indies, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Kenya.
Call for Proposals Now Open!
Kindly submit a 250-word abstract along with a short bio by December 31, 2025, to hssconferences@lums.edu.pk
