Professional cricket migrants 'going Down Under': temporary, skilled, international migration?

The significance of flows of temporary, skilled labour migrants under conditions of globalization is widely acknowledged. Using a case study of elite cricket professionals moving from the UK to Australia for a maximum duration of 6 months, out and return migration flows and processes are examined. In doing so, this thesis exposes migration motives, notably in relation to career progression and personal development, and the processes and regulations that control temporary sojourns. Furthermore, the discussion reveals important social, cultural, economic and familial impacts of undertaking temporary, skilled, international migration. Using this case study of a sport-led migration, a largely under-researched occupational sector in migration studies, a number of theoretical, conceptual and empirical contributions are provided, which advance knowledge of skilled, international migration. First, utilising Bourdieu's (1986) notions of capital as an analytical framework, the comparative importance of migration motives are emphasised. Second, it is shown that migration can be viewed as a normalised aspect of a skilled worker's career trajectory, and that desired outcomes can be achieved during increasingly temporary stays overseas. Third, a three phase model of the migration flow is adopted to enable the development of professionalization and migration within cricket to be examined. It is asserted that cricket, as a professional sport, has changed under conditions of globalization, alongside smaller scale developments initiated by both employers and intermediaries, and the migrant cricketers. It is concluded that these connections will have salience for the other skilled occupations identified in Salt's (1997) typology of highly-skilled migrants

National Citizen Service: A Geographical Approach

This three year project examined the state’s motivations behind, the voluntary sector’s engagement with, and young people’s experiences of, National Citizen Service. National Citizen Service (NCS) is a UK government funded voluntary scheme for 15-17 year olds in England and Northern Ireland delivered through a range of social enterprises, charities and private sector partnerships. Since 2011, over 300,000 young people have completed NCS – a short-term programme with two residential experiences and 30 hours of a social action project (further details on page 6). Using NCS as a case-study, and positioning this new scheme within the historical context of youth citizenship development, this research project addresses timely and policy-relevant debates on the state and civil society, and contributes to academic debates on youth citizenship, volunteering and informal education

Temporary skilled international migration of young professional cricketers: ‘going Down-Under’ to move-up the career path

Recent theories of temporary skilled international migration tend to be predicated on intra-company overseas transfers and secondments. In this paper we present original findings from a study of cricket migrants to highlight another important form of temporary international movements that enable upskilling from strategic, channelled placements into a foreign club, to propel the careers of young professionals on return migration to their respective home club. Drawing upon interviews with 35 early-career English cricketers, we reveal that moving to Australia for 3–6 months during the English domestic off-season is an increasingly common practice to extend the number of months playing the sport in both distinctive work and climatic conditions. Encountering different overseas sporting cultures and environments is becoming a normative part of formative training and development of young professional cricketers to make the ‘‘unfamiliar’ more ‘familiar’’ and enhance skills and competencies. We argue that these flows of international migrants have been facilitated by the post-2001 professionalization of cricket, and the institutionalisation of global networks between cricket organisations and key actors in the sport. We suggest that there are parallels between cricket placements and other sports and occupational sectors, such as temporary overseas moves linked to loans (e.g. football), visiting fellowships, internships and secondments, in ever-competitive global professional labour markets

The state and voluntary sector in austere times: 10 years of National Citizen Service

In this article we examine the latest chapter in the relationship between the state and the voluntary sector in the UK. We present an analysis of the UK Government’s ‘National Citizen Service’ (NCS) scheme and map the landscape of youth services over the past decade. Drawing on interview data with delivery providers of the programme, and key government and policy actors, we explore the new geographies NCS has created and reflect on the wider implications of this programme in austerity Britain