The Colonial Hangover
I just finished watching the highlights of the last day of the fifth test between England and Sri Lanka and I feel a sense of pride even though I am not Sri Lankan. In reality I am a neutral outsider, I am Indian, but right now for some reason I feel like we have won
(I refer we as anyone from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh).

I can’t help but look at it from a match between an ex-colony and an imperial power at the latter’s home ground. Of course, it’s only a draw, the series is still nil all, but it feels like a victory, a well-fought battle where the brown men stuck it out, gave all they had and prevented the whites from getting what was supposed to be theirs, or so they thought.

It’s sad but it’s true, whenever England plays Sri Lanka, India or Pakistan, we brown men want England to lose, it’s our way of standing up to the empire, a feeling which exists on a very sub-conscious level. It’s a hangover of our colonial past. They gave us the game, brought it to our part of world. They were at first hesitant in teaching us the game, we were the coloured natives, we couldn’t play with them, we played amongst ourselves. Then the inevitable happened, we learnt it, we persisted, and now 150 years later we are competing with them and at times even beating them.

English people might write off these feelings as unnecessary and at times even flippant yet these same people feel the exact same thing whenever they beat Australia. The Ashes last year was the best example, I do not have to say no more about that, except that we cheered for you and were glad that you beat them. We did celebrate; your victory was our victory. We drank some pints on your behalf; we were waiting to see the face of Ricky Ponting and his brethren when they were on the other end. And our celebration was genuine, though that is because Australia is our main target, we prefer you to them, we really do.

As Sociologist cum renowned cricket writer, Chris Searle, wrote in the foreword of his book Pitch of life: Writings on Cricket with a special reference to the domination of West Indies in international cricket from the 1960s to the late 1980s and the emergence of South Asia as a cricketing force in the 90s. “Cricket is the metaphor turned around. The coloniser’s game becoming his sporting nemesis. The cricket playing subject becoming more than the equal, the master and the destroyer too. The final blackwash.”

Sri Lanka didn’t play grand cricket, in fact they were outplayed for three days and on the rest two England just couldn’t finish it off. The inexperience displayed early on was replaced by an urge to retain some respect. It was a matter of national pride.

They had been asked to follow on after being bundled out for 191 in their first innings and were expected to lose by Saturday afternoon. They didn’t and survived England’s much touted bowling attack for eight sessions, displaying character and self-confid3ence that they themselves didn’t seem to possess before then. This was their highest second innings score and the highest ever second innings score at Lord's. It couldn’t have come at a better time.

More than anything it was the way they frustrated the England bowlers and fielders.
This is the only the second time they are playing a three match test series in England after being ignored for more than a decade. In 1996, they came and played a one-off test at The Oval, while South Africa played 5 tests. Worse, still Muralitharan single-handedly wrecked the English with match figures of 16 for 220 in that match.

The minnows of the 80s are now a fairly competitive side as they have shown despite the absence of big names and stars in the current squad. Don’t get me wrong I am not saying they will win the series, England should cruise. This match has shown that they can fight and fight they will, of course only on the cricket pitch. For the media and the elite in England, they maybe meek brown people with unpronounceable names but they can play good cricket as they have shown in the past.

England did spill their chances, and over-confidence may have been one of their flaws. Looks like the series will not be as one-sided as they would have hoped. The nine catches that they dropped didn’t help either. I must admit I did laugh in my head at all nine of them but that’s because I myself am I brown man with an unpronounceable name waiting for any chance to laugh at a white man drop a dolly. It’s sad but true. You can’t really blame me though, can you?