An English Summer

The Lankan cricketers were busy liquidating the South African batsmen at that time and the drone of the Tiger Moth as it went round the ground for a good hour or so only egged them on to greater effort.

The messenger was not done though. He returned post-lunch when the South Africans were batting, this time bearing the rather stupid and treasonous message 8220;S Africa, We Tamils Support You8221;. Not that the Proteas needed much support as they eviscerated the Sri Lankans innings. Evidently, the Tamil separatists have more money than the Kashmiri or Khalistani separatists.

There are plenty of LTTE sympathisers in London and the lurking threat was evident in the stringent security at Northampton. It was the first centre to impose the usual security drill bag checking etc and the first to stop children from playing on the ground during the lunch break.

Plastic cricket

Speaking of which, here8217;s one explanation from a British journalist for the decline of cricket in England. According to Richard Williams of The Independent, the falling standards is partly because English kids have stopped playing cricket with the usual cricketing gear 8212; leather ball, willow bat, pads and gloves. Instead, most children play what is called Kwik Cricket8217; with plastic balls, plastic bats and plastic stumps.

8220;On my last visit to Mumbai, I went to the maidan where there were hundreds of 10 and 12-year-olds playing the real thing,8221; Williams said during the lunch break, as we watched the silly endeavors with plastic of even 14 and 15-year olds. Williams said he actually sought out Ramakant Achrekar, Sachin Tendulkar8217;s coach, and came away so impressed that he wrote a piece about that encounter last weekend.

Nutty over cricket

So you think cricket is only a Commonwealth game confined to former colonies? Dig this. Chugging into Northampton on an early morning train, I decided to split a cab with two other cricket aficionados waiting in the taxi rank. We introduced ourselves. Brian, by his accent, was obviously South African. Sanath, by his name and the T-shirt he wore, was Sri Lankan. A cab arrived and as we were heading to the ground, the introductions edged forward. I told them I was a Washington-based journalist covering the World Cup for an Indian newspaper. 8220;Wowie,8221; Brian said, 8220;I8217;m a Dallas-based caddie for Zimbabwean golfer Mark McNulty.8221;

8220;Yikes!8221; Sanath said, 8220;I8217;m a San Jose-based engineer playing club cricket in California.8221;

We laughed all the way to the ground thinking we are all nuts. But that8217;s cricket. As someone said, it8217;s a game which makes you realise in October that your wife left you in May.