Our project partners with the Leys Cricket Club, a newly established community club serving the areas of Blackbird Leys and Greater Leys. The long term aims are to improve participation of underrepresented groups and solidify the club's place in the local community.
This week, we began to conduct a literature review of the inequalities within cricket, in the UK and globally, to identify the commonly marginalised groups. We have identified that much of the literature focuses on pipelines to elite cricket, tracking progression of players towards the national and international level. This may partly reflect accessibility of data, since international players will have more publicly available data about them, or due to priorities set by research funding bodies. We noticed, with the advice of our supervisor, that this may not be the ultimate aim of the Leys Cricket Club. This prompted us to step back, and recognise the importance of discussing research priorities with stakeholders. Moving forward, we will meet with the founder and manager of the cricket club at the beginning of next week, to ensure alignment of goals.
Researching the demographic data of the Leys area, we recognised multiple indicators of socioeconomic deprivation just a few miles out of the historic Oxford city centre, highlighting the juxtaposition that creates friction within the Oxford community. We would like to approach the research conscientiously, maintaining consistent dialogue with locals in the area, to ensure that our research does not become detached from the realities of living in a Leys community.
As we venture out of the city centre, and begin the 'boots on the ground' phase of our research next week, interpersonal skills and empathy will be paramount to developing productive and sensitive dialogues with locals. Careful planning will be needed to balance the time constraints of travelling to and from Leys with the need to respect the time of locals who volunteer to speak with us.