A new exhibition, Cricket and the Jewish Community, telling the story of the Jewish community’s relationship with cricket, has opened at the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Museum at Lord’s, Europe’s oldest sporting museum.

The exhibition is the first in a new Community Gallery, formerly the Brian Johnston Film Theatre, which will become a permanent area for rotating displays about different communities’ bonds with cricket.

This exhibition was curated jointly by two Jewish MCC Members Zaki Cooper and Daniel Lightman, KC, the authors of the acclaimed book Cricket Grounds from the Air, together with the MCC Heritage & Collections Department.

The exhibition features the stories of well-known international and first-class cricketers from Australia, England, Ireland, South Africa and the West Indies. It also addresses cricket at grassroots level, in Israel and the Maccabiah. It uses cricket clothing and equipment, artwork, books, video and other material to tell the story of how the Jewish community has contributed to the game of cricket and considers the prevalence of anti-Semitism in cricket and its impact on Jewish cricketers.

The introductory text for the exhibition says, “Jews have contributed at all levels of cricket, both on and off the field of play. Jewish male cricketers have played Test cricket for Australia and South Africa, and perhaps more remarkably for the West Indies. Jewish batters have scored centuries for the West Indies as well as for Ireland and Scotland. Female Jewish players have been capped by England, Australia and Ireland. Jews have been umpires, administrators, journalists, patrons and have helped to develop the commercial side of the game. They have captained their countries, been presidents of MCC and even baked cakes for Test Match Special.”

Neil Robinson, head of heritage and collections at MCC, says, “The Community Gallery offers a ground-breaking opportunity for individual communities to tell their own stories of cricket in their own words, using the expertise and facilities of the MCC Museum. For MCC it is a unique chance to explore the connections between cricket and community identity at all levels of the game. That the first exhibition in the newly dedicated gallery should focus on Jewish cricket and cricketers is highly appropriate since it was an approach from Zaki and Daniel that formed the genesis of this project.”

Zaki Cooper and Daniel Lightman, who co-curated the exhibition with MCC, says, “We are delighted to have worked with MCC on this landmark exhibition. We believe it to be the first one ever on the subject. As two cricket fans from a young age, we have always been fascinated by our community’s links to the great game. Short of opening the batting for England at Lord’s, this is surely the next best thing!

“The exhibition is about Jews and cricket and hopefully brings to life how a small minority fell in love with the great game and used it to build community and to frame their sense of identity. It is a story not only about recurring prejudice and the frustration and elation of sport but also of integration and belonging. We hope that people who come to see it enjoy it and it leads to other communities telling their cricketing stories.”