Cricket, climate and carbon footprint

Arriving in Bengaluru on Sunday feels like a breath of fresh air. After spending five days in Delhi and six in Mumbai, the combination of lower temperatures and better air quality over the last 48 hours has been incredibly refreshing. Walking around Bengaluru without breaking a sweat within five minutes is a luxury, and I am grateful for the fresher air.

My phone’s weather app provides me with the Air Quality Index (AQI) measurement of each city I visit. In Delhi, the AQI seemed to hover around 300-320. During my five weeks in Mumbai earlier this year, I didn’t pay much attention to the air quality, but I was shocked by the poor visibility when driving to and from the airport. Every time I checked, the AQI was pushing 300.

According to an article in the Indian Express, spending a day outside in Mumbai with current air quality levels is equivalent to smoking five or six cigarettes. As I write this in Bengaluru, the AQI is at 103, described as “moderately polluted” by the app. Just for comparison, back home in London, the AQI is around 30.

“I’ve never experienced anything like that before,” said Root, a seasoned international cricketer who has played around the world for 11 years. He even battled heatstroke in Sydney in 2018. “I’ve played in hotter and more humid conditions, but it felt like I couldn’t breathe. It was like eating the air.”

“It felt like a hazy day,” Root continued. “Looking back towards the sun from one side of the ground was visually challenging compared to the other side. Whether it was due to air quality or something else, it was definitely a new experience for me.”

However, these past few days have emphasized the fact that cricket is contributing to a problem that endangers its own future. Covering this World Cup requires accumulating thousands of air miles and spending hours on the road, leading to an unsustainably high carbon footprint for individuals like myself in October-November.

So, how committed is cricket to addressing the climate crisis? Here’s an example: after enduring the third-hottest October day in Mumbai in the last decade and scoring a brilliant century, South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen received a Player-of-the-Match award sponsored by the world’s largest oil producer.