Cricket Baby!!!!

If you haven't been swept up by Cricket fever by now...well, then you must be an American. The Cricket World Cup is going on right now, and for several countries, it is like Football World Cup (you know I mean Soccer) and absurdly popular, but, involves, like, very few Latin people. Even ESPN had some cricket coverage! Of course, it was a blurb on its Page 2 site. They need ESPN Ocho (i.e, "The Ocho") to cover it for sure.

So what can I say about Cricket? Well, I've definitely seen a few games in my life (this is not bragging by any means, since it involved my dad and uncles playing in rec league in Flushing Meadow Park in Queens, NY with a lot of drinking). Perhaps Max Sparber of the Pulse of the Twin Cities describes it best:

Cricket hasn't found much of a following in the United States, probably because it's as boring as baseball but harder to understand. But it does share with baseball the game's essential elegance: neither have the frenetic action or physical violence found in other team sports, and cricket has the advantage of being a genuine world sport--this World Cup features teams from Australia, Kenya, Bermuda, the Netherlands and Canada.

Now, my friend Sachin - who shares the name of my nephew as well as the famous cricketer Sachin Tendulkar - is a huge cricket fan. He is upset that he hasn't found a way to watch the games here in the US (he refuses to own a TV for lack of self-control). Which is a shame, since Cricket actually has all the great things that American sports have, including:

• Corruption and questionable management by its leadership (Pakistani League)
  
• An attack on a team's coach resulting in his murder, with players suspected to be involved (the Pakistani National Coach was tragically murdered after being elminated from the tournament, reminiscient of the Brazilian goalie who was found shot in his car a few Football World Cups-ago after allowing an "auto goal" to be scored)
  
• Fan revolt on a coach who has been successful (India)
  
• An extremely intensive rivalry through which different populations use as a basis to reflect their underlying conflict with each other (India-Pakistan, in which I would be remiss in not noting that the current champion in this series is India).

Perhaps one of the more exciting parts of the World Cup - that should make it more relevant in this country - is that it is being played right in our very back yard with the West Indies as the "tournament host". As with the Football World Cup, various countries in the West Indies are hosting several games each. One of these countries is my own birth country, Guyana. Some key points on Guyana, graciously borrowed (since I sadly know very little of my home country - I am in the middle of The Namesake right now and feel very guilty) from BBC Sports Journalist Mr. Martin Gough and Wikipedia:

• Guyana, is the only non-island nation in West Indies cricket. It is bordered by Venezuela to the west, Suriname to the east and Brazil to the south so, unsurprisingly, it has a South American feel.
• Some great Guyanese cricketers (not players, but cricketers) include: Rohan Kanai, Clive Lloyd and Shivnarine Chanderpaul
• Guyana, along with Suriname and Brazil, is one of the three non-Hispanic nations in South America. Guyana's culture is very similar to that of the English-speaking Caribbean.
• Its blend of East Indian (Asian Indian) and West Indian (black) cultures gives it similarities to Trinidad and distinguishes it from other parts of the Americas. Guyana shares similar interests with the islands in the West Indies, such as food, festive events, music, sports, etc.

And finally, what would a post that mentions my home country be without pictures! There is a new state of the art modern mall getting built in Guyana, which is kind of a big deal. Here is the photo my mom sent me: