Sports bring people together – it’s a common known fact. For Sri Lanka, the sport is cricket despite the fact that our national sport is volleyball. The hype for cricket is insane, but the passion we have for it is admirable. Songs have been written, tears shed, families have been brought together – it’s practically a Bollywood movie.
Being Sri Lankan and not a cricket fan is almost an abomination, yet here I am. Don’t get me wrong, I still cheer for our team during the World Cup, but what am I cheering for? I don’t even know.
Here are the few things that I actually know about cricket:
- Kumar Sangakkara is a national treasure
- 100 runs is a century
- 1000 runs is probably a millennium
- If the ball goes over the field it’s a 6 and if it touches the barrier it’s a 4. If it hits an Indian cricket fan, you've won the match.
- We won the World Cup in 96’ (I wasn’t even born but I watch a lot of JehanR)
Image obtained from JehanR's YouTube.
- I can name maybe 6 Sri Lankan Cricket players but I’ve been told most of them don’t play anymore.
- You can legitimately use “I was watching the match last night” as an excuse at school. You probably won’t get away with not doing homework but chances are you can start up a conversation that can distract your teacher for the time being.
- MS Dhoni is not in fact a part of Microsoft Office
- England invented cricket and then spread its influence to the colonies, who in turn literally beat them at their own game.
Here’s a list of things I’d like to know about cricket – well I wouldn’t care but I’m curious.
- Is cricket named after the insect or is the insect named after the sport?
- Don’t baseball and cricket have similar concepts? Did America steal that too and make it their own?
- Why does the umpire look like he’s controlling traffic? What exactly is his job? Why is he called an umpire?
- What is test cricket? What’s the difference? Should you take an exam or something before the match? Who knows? Certainly not me.
- Is DJ Bravo an actual DJ? Can someone make his Champion song the official anthem for all sports events please.
- On a scale of one to ten, how possible is it to get Sanga to run for president? #Sanga2020
