An Incident of Shunning

I am interested in ways to managing conflict and resolve disputes peaceably. When doing fieldwork in Barbados, I witnessed many examples of peaceful conflict management among cricket players. One incident stood out as an example of peaceful enforcement of norms.

Cricketers pride themselves on how civilized and gentlemanly they are, and this is true even when the players come from the lowest orders of society. League cricket is supposed to be, and generally is, marked by high levels of propriety. It is considered very bad form to dispute calls of the umpires in a prolonged and emotional manner or to engage in tantrums over poor play or disputed calls. Spectators may, of course, call the umpires “thief” if they wish, implying that they have stolen runs or outs from the side they are supporting. This is done in a fairly subdued manner. Taunting is frowned upon, as is unseemly celebration.

Umpires have authority to eject players, and their reports to the league may result in suspensions or outright banning. The leagues also have officials known as referees who attend matches and report on crowd and player deportment. I have never seen the powers of umpires or referees exercised to maintain decorum, and this is mainly accomplished through social norms. Propriety is part of the demeanor of a cricketer, and a big part of development of players is training in sportsmanship and decorum. Also, major cricket stars model appropriate behavior, and young players emulate them.

The clubs enforce standards of propriety among their members and partisans. Bad behavior brings shame to the club, and bad actors may find themselves out of the club no matter how skilled they may be as players.

In the incident that I recall vividly, the visiting club had a couple of players who insisted on taunting the home team mercilessly by pointing out how well the visitors were batting, how poorly the hosts were fielding and bowling, and how low the hosts had come from their days of glory. There were no aggressive moves or profanities involved, so the conduct was not really actionable under league rules. Nonetheless, it was inappropriate. One of the non-playing members of the host politely asked the captain of the visitors to reign in the incessant yammering of the taunting players, but the visiting team took no action.

The hosts did not answer the taunts. When it was time for lunch, the visiting team was provided with food and drink, as is proper, but the host team stayed in the locker room and shunned them. After lunch, the taunting players were quiet for a while, but one of them had batted a century and could not contain himself in his gloating and taunting. The hosts had many runs to make up but managed to do so and won the match. Afterwards, the hosts opened the bar to the visitors but declined to drink with them. Instead, they showered and went home. Nothing was wanting in the hospitality offered by the hosts except for their presence.

The next meeting between the clubs was conspicuous for the absence of the taunters and a more collegial atmosphere at the match. Shunning was all it took to bring about this correction.