When I first agreed to delve in to the World Cup for the mutiny, I did so because I knew it was important to South Asia, our diaspora and several cute commenters here…but I had no idea how powerful the sport truly is, until now.
Apparently cricket can do what diplomacy, prayers and tears cannot (all quotes via Reuters, Thanks Karthik):
Cricket fever has gripped Sri Lanka after their team secured a place in the World Cup final, diverting attention — at least for the time being — from a worsening civil war.
Cricket-mad fans sat glued to their television sets until the early hours of Wednesday morning to watch Sri Lanka defeat New Zealand by 81 runs in Jamaica.
The success of the cricket team in the Caribbean has provided a welcome distraction from the worsening military conflict between the government and Tamil Tigers, which has left a 2002 ceasefire agreement in tatters.
The two-decade civil war, which has claimed around 68,000 lives, has intensified in the past year with almost daily battles, denting business confidence and contributing to spiralling inflation.
One higher power, many paths; one fervently-desired wish, many prayers:
Multi-faith religious ceremonies are being planned in the lead-up to Saturday’s big game to bless the team, and President Mahinda Rajapaksa will even fly to Barbados for the final.
Yo, this is serious:
The Excise Department has even delayed the start of an alcohol sales ban for Buddhist Wesak holidays by one day. It will now come into effect after the World Cup final.
I got my hopes up…
Even many Tamil Tigers, who control swathes of land in the north and east of the country and are fighting for independence, are watching.
“There are people in the controlled areas watching,” rebel military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan said by telephone.
Then felt them sink, even though I’m not Sri Lankan, Tamil, or particularly conscious of this violent, on-going tragedy:
But he added: “Our activities will not change because of these matches. These matches are not going to make any difference.“
I hope he’s full of it. I stupidly and naively hope that cricket really will do for Sri Lanka what nothing else has been able to– give diverse communities a reason to stop killing each other, at least for a little while. As far as I know, it’s difficult to cheer effectively if you’re holding a gun. Yes, that was paneer-laden…but I’m serious. In 1996, Sri Lanka destroyed Australia to win the World Cup; I hope they do so tomorrow, too. If ever there were a country which deserved some cheer…::
For an alternate take on the significance of Sri Lanka’s World Cup success, I’d recommend a post by kettikili over at Pass The Roti.
I, like Mandira Bedi, am not capable of this kind of commentary:
Likewise, today in Sri Lanka, cricket appreciation at its best is hailed as a force of national unity, a testament to the plural, multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic, and multi-religious country we should aspire to be.
After all, our Murali is a Tamil, Sri Lankans, diasporic or not, are wont to say.
This is true. But is this enough? Can we simply rest on the laurels of the team? Sri Lankan cricket represents the ideal nation and its aspirations, not the realities of all its citizens. Sri Lankan cricket, in some sense, is what we hope to be. (I’m bracketing the gendering of that abstract model of citizenship– for now.)
But, as is all too evident now, cricket fanaticism at its worst serves as a distraction from the war, and a convenient way to suppress debate and dissent in favour of a superficial image of national unity.
The rest of the post is here.
Though I really love Sri Lankan team, my attitude towards the World Cup is anyone, anyone but the Aussies.
I’m a little worried about all the negativity towards Australia on this thread; some of it seems to border on simple national prejudice. I want Sri Lanka to win, but not because I hate the Aussies; instead, it’s because I always tend to go for the underdog (and I enjoy the infectious enthusiasm of Murali and co). I admire the Australian team for what they’ve done over the years; in players such as Warne and Gilchrist, they have produced genuine entertainers as well as winners. True, there have been moments when the Aussies haven’t been exactly noble (I’m thinking here mainly of Darren Lehmann’s “black c***s” outburst before the last World Cup), but to tar them all as racists is simplistic (and hypocritical); it also ignores counter examples such as Steve Waugh’s charity work with child lepers in India, and Brett Lee’s duet with Asha Bhosle (although I could understand why you might want to ignore the latter). And Amit, I wanted to pick up on this:
I wonder if you’d reconsider your postion. India are out – nothing can change that. But isn’t it slightly better to have been beaten by the eventual champions rather than some also-rans? And, to specifically hold something against the Sri Lankans just for doing their job seems churlish; every other team in the tournament would’ve have tried to beat India too had they met. Therefore, what seems to be behind your “I cannot cheer for any country that beats my country” is actually the statement “I cannot cheer for any country other than my own”. And I feel that that’s a little sad. For me, one of the great things about cricket as a sport is that there is still a great deal of attention given to even-handedness and respect; cricket afficionados are often willing to applaud excellence in people who are not their own. I know it might seem as though I’m peddling Corinthian stereotypes that don’t match up to a reality of match-fixing, murder and riots; but I honestly believe that, more than most other mainstream sports, cricket does have high standards of decency and of simple humanity. I accept that there must always be a competitive dimension to it, but to use it purely as a nationalistic bludgeon is to diminish it as a sport.
No man, for a true sports fan there is nothing more thrilling than seeing a feisty underdog knocking arrogant overlords off their perch —- COME ON LANKA!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m certainly rooting for SL because a) they have excellent players and b) they are the underdogs (who likes Aussie hyper-dominance/sledging/generalised cockiness?). But not because I identify with them. No Indian who remembers the heartbreak of losing to them in the 1996 final (when they were again the underdogs) could really feel very fraternal towards ’em 😉
GO SRI LANKA! GO BROWN!
And Prema, before you criticize for a lack of Sepia Solidarity, be kind enough to remember what this post is titled.
right now, i will settle for the match going ahead…today, perferably..
Shit — rain rain rain.
Don’t want this to be a reduced over match.
i daren’t go to bed for fear of it starting, yet it would be terrible if they did have a rain-shortened match. not acceptable for a world cup final.
The Guardian OBO sez:
That would be 2:15 EDT. So let’s hope for three more hours of rain in Barbados so we can get a proper match tomorrow! I’m doing a little rain dance here…
People, When do they decide if they want to cancel the game and replay it?
Siddhartha, dude! Rain is forecast for tomorrow too! Do you want no final at ALL????
Well then let’s have it on Monday! What’s the hurry, anyway?
Because there is only ONE reserve day and if there’s no play, both teams will hold the cup jointly, poo!
No you are right, we can’t have that. But being reduced to a 20/20 would truly suck though, no?
Well, much as a 20-20 final would suck, it would still be better than no final at all.
Guardian’s OBO seems rather stodgy today and I’d recommend switching to Cricinfo’s, btw.
I’m doing the rain dance too — let’s have a full match tommorow.
In side news, Sir Viv Richards says that he thinks Ramnaresh Sarwan should be the next captain of Windies. Desi takeover! Give it five years and Monty wil be leading England too!
Groundstaff are checking the ground, rain has stopped. If it has to be it has to be I suppose.
But where’s the guarantee that tomorrow would be any less rainy? I joined what must be millions of people exhibiting an undue interest in the weather forecast at Bridgetown, Barbados for tomorrow, and that’s suppose to be rainy too. They should do no less than 30 overs per side IMO, and if need be stretch it over two days. It’s more important to get a proper match in than to squeeze it in on one day.
SP
If that did happen it would be an absolute farce — the mother of all laughable farces — two teams sharing the World Cup because they refused to schedule more than one reserve day. If the match can’t be played today or tommorow neither team should leave the island until they thrash it out on the pitch. Anything else would make the whole tournament a total waste and cricket a laughing stock.
SP —- commentators said they’ll go down to a 20/20 but no lower — anything less and next day.
no, no don’t even name it, a monday match would be terrible…imagine the pressure on
mei mean the lankans..Well, all matches have only one reserve day and while I agree that it would be silly not to try for a result, there must be some artificial time limits for the sake of planning, no? It’s not like the fifth set of a Wimbledon final that can drag on forever without a tie-break.
Yeah but not playing it and get a result on the pitch would be so catastrophic for the game of cricket that everything else would need to be put on hold. And it’s not like that it would be an inordinate wait.
Anyway, the covers are about to come off.
COME ON LANKA!!!!!!!!
So which idiot sang Megh Malhar in Barbados? We should, to borrow JoAT’s elegant phrase, go all Bata chappal on him.
And adding fuel to the fire we have Mandira Bedi
Malcolm Speed was sozzled and forgot to bribe the weather god’s, that’s what. Play supposed to start in half an hour if all goes well. Fingers, toes and eyes crossed.
red snapper: you jest! really? has it cleared?
38 overs per side….sceptical eyebrow raised
38 overs a side grits teeth
well this helps the aussies no end. bugger it, lets go to the reserve day.
Phone rings in Effigy Production company in Gurgaon.
*Hallo?
*Hallo yes. Do you have any Mandira Bedis in stock? Stupid bitch has stitched Indian flag near feet.
*What? The fucking bitch! Burn her!
*Yes. Twenty Mandira Bedis please. By 6pm.
*6pm? Shit, we’re on a tight deadline, got the lads on production line doing overtime for Richard Geres. Got orders coming in, all over the place.
*Damn. Any Shilpa Shettys? We can just set some of her on fire, nobody will be able to tell.
*Well you say that, but Mandira has bigger boobs, so it’s easy to tell.
*Damn you’re right. Ah screw it, just send the Shettys, we’ll stick extra straw into its chest, show Bedi what it means to put Indian flag on sari by feet. Send us all your spare Shilpa effigies then. You burn one insulter of Indian sentiment, you burn them all, all look the same on fire anyway.
*True, true. Tell you what, we’ll throw in a couple of Richard Geres for free, seeing as its a bulk order.
*Thanks! That’s so kind! OK got to go, I think one of my alcoholic mob leaders just set fire to himself by accident.
*OK, peace.
*Yeah peace and love. Indian sentiments are being rescued by fire!
*Yeah! Burn the insulters!
RS: lol
so how many of us here are at the pub punching away at the keyboard?
I jest not flygirl, about to start play soon. Is everyone drinking cold beer? Good. COME ON LANKA!!!
snapper, thanks, we finally went to live coverage
I’m at home, got the TV on, laptop on coffee table, beers on other coffee table.
COME ON LANKA, LONDON IS WITH YOU!!!!!!!!!!
GOOOO LANKA!!!
First ever World Cup final that has been reduced overs.
If the Ozillas lose, they will bitch about shortened game. Oh how I wish for that outcome. The Australian WC (92) had the stupidest rules for rain-shortened games. The teams actually got punished for bowling well in first inning. I am not sure but I think it was Richie Benaud’s idea. I can only imagine the uproar had it happened in Brownland.
I just love the buzz when the first ball is about to be bowled
tragic.
the outfield is much drier than expected. huge banks of green and gold! great noise from the stadium
its well good, Oz need to get their arses kicked. GO LANKA.
BRING IT ON MALINGA!!!
Something is not right about that statement.
And about the game being reduced overs, all the analysis is out the window. Is it just me or do others here miss Kalu?
Regardless of what happens today, Lanka needs an SM banner.
Go Lanka!!!!!!! hic
oh crap oh crap oh crap Gillies is going for it
WPUJCV in the house. Excellent first over.
No Von Mises, i 2nd that.
And I just jinxed him. ARRRGH.
Gah! They can read Vaas like a book