
"Wits liked to repeat that the English, since they lacked any spiritual instinct, had invented cricket in order to give themselves a sense of eternity."
The above quote relates to the five day mode of cricket. With the English team losing their wickets as I write (during their match against NZ) it sounds like they are getting more of a sense of hell rather than eternity.
Source: Julian Barnes, Arthur and George, London: Jonathan Cape, 2005, 246.
Image: England v New Zealand.