Cricket, Colonialism, and Masculinity in V.S. Naipaul's Miguel Street.

The article examines the role of cricket in V. S. Naipaul's 1959 story collection *Miguel Street*, situating the sport as a pervasive yet often silent presence that shapes masculinity and colonial identity in 1940s Trinidad. Cricket, introduced by British colonizers, functions as a complex cultural practice that intertwines race, class, and colonial power, serving both as a site of colonial mimicry and a vehicle for emergent, resistant masculinities among working-class men. The analysis highlights how cricket operates as a unifying social ritual across ethnic divides, particularly among Black and Indian Trinidadians, while also reflecting broader postcolonial tensions and aspirations. Drawing on the work of Trinidadian theorist C. L. R. James and other scholars, the article argues that cricket in *Miguel Street* symbolizes a contested space where colonial hierarchies are both reproduced and challenged, offering characters a vicarious form of empowerment amid socioeconomic hardship.