Friday, March 16, 2007

Cricket for Eternity

As the Cricket World Cup is in full swing or spin, here is a cricket snippet from writer Julian Barnes:

"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.