Rafaelle Nicholson

Dr Rafaelle Nicholson

  • u_rnicholson at bournemouth dot ac dot uk
  • Senior Lecturer in Sports Journalism
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Biography

Dr Rafaelle Nicholson is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Media & Communication at Bournemouth University. Her research sits at the boundary between contemporary history and sociology, and focuses on gender and sport. Her PhD examined the history of women's cricket in Britain since 1945, providing the first comprehensive overview of the development of the sport in the modern period. Her subsequent book Ladies and Lords: A History of Women's Cricket in Britain (Peter Lang 2019) was shortlisted for the MCC / Cricket Society Book of the Year and established her as a thought leader in the field of women's sport history.

Her current research is concerned with the changing role of women in sports governance since the 1990s, the period in which British women's sport transitioned from being run entirely by women to being administered by "merged" organisations made up largely of men. She is also a freelance journalist who writes for ESPNCricinfo, Wisden and Wisden Cricket Monthly. She edits the women's cricket website, www.CRICKETher.com...

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Journal Articles

Books

Chapters

  • Nicholson, R., 2019. 'Who are we...to tell the South Africans how to run their country?' The Women's Cricket Association and the aftermath of the D'Oliveira Affair, 1968-9. In: Murray, B., Parry, R. and Winch, J., eds. Cricket and Society in South Africa, 1910-1971: From Union to Isolation. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Nicholson, R., 2017. 'It just seemed like old white guys on a field': Imperialism, class, and the 'whiteness' of women's cricket. Race, Gender and Sport The Politics of Ethnic 'Other' Girls and Women. Routledge.
  • Nicholson, R., 2016. Hylton, Leslie. Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography: Ferg-Kali. Oxford University Press.

Reports

Internet Publications

Invited Lectures

  • The future of the sports movement in India, Bangalore, India, 03 Jul 2021 more

Grants

  • Women’s Sport Governance: Merger-Takeovers in the 1990s and beyond (Bournemouth University, 10 Jun 2019). Completed
  • Re-presenting para-sport bodies: Disability and the cultural legacy of the Paralympic Games (Arts and Humanities Research Council, 03 Sep 2018). Completed
  • The Legacy of the 2014 Commonwealth Games (Big Lottery Fund, 04 Sep 2017). Completed

Public Engagement & Outreach Activities

  • The Women of Surrey (01 Jan 2019)
  • Consultant (01 Oct 2018-31 May 2021)
  • ICC World Cup programme (01 Jan 2017)

Conference Presentations

  • British Society of Sports History, “No merger, no money”: Oral Histories of Sporting Amalgamations, 1985-2000, 26 Aug 2021, St Mary's University, Twickenham
  • Oral History Society conference, “A white-haired old lady”: Repurposing oral histories of women’s cricket for popular consumption, 09 Jul 2021, Online
  • Social History Society Conference, Writing the 90s: Women, Leisure and Sport, 28 Jun 2021, Online
  • Auto/Biography and Community, “Cricket was my escape”: Oral histories of women's cricketing lives, 04 Dec 2020, Online
  • Sporting Heritage conference, Creating viable sporting heritage research partnerships, 22 Oct 2020, Online
  • Sport and Leisure History Seminar, Women’s Sport Governance: Merger-Takeovers in 
the 1990s and beyond, 07 Oct 2019, Institute of Historical Research
  • British Society of Sports History annual conference, Women’s Sport Governance: Merger-Takeovers in the 1990s and beyond, 06 Sep 2019, Liverpool Hope University
  • Contemporary British History Now, Sport and British Decolonisation, 13 Sep 2017, Kings College London
  • Social History Society annual conference, The Non-Absent-Minded Imperialists: Women's Sport and British Decolonisation, 04 Apr 2017, Institute of Education, London
  • Women's History Network annual conference, My first love has always been cricket’: Women's Sport and the Women's Movement in Postwar Britain, 04 Sep 2015, University of Kent
  • British Society of Sports History, ‘We’ve got to look like women’: Image and sexuality in English women's cricket, 1990-2015, 02 Sep 2015, Swansea University
  • Oral History and Sport, 'It doesn't mean I'm Women's Lib': An Oral History of Women's Cricket, 19 Sep 2014, British Library
  • Women's Histories: The Local and the Global, Creating the Commonwealth: Anglo-Australian women's cricket, 1945-1973, 29 Aug 2013, Sheffield Hallam University

Qualifications

  • PhD in History (Queen Mary University of London, 2015)
  • MSt in Women's Studies (University of Oxford, 2010)
  • BA (Hons) in Modern History and Politics (University of Oxford (Merton College), 2009)

Honours

  • Richard Cox Prize for best postgraduate paper (British Society of Sports History, 2013)

Networks

  • British Society of Sports History - Vice Chair
  • Cricket Society - Executive Committee member
  • Cricket Writers Club - Member

Social Media Links

External Media and Press

Broadcast Interview