Why we love cricket

Folks from non-cricketing nations often cock their heads and frown, puzzled, at this strange game of cricket that nationals throughout the Commonwealth – in North America (since Canada has joined the cricketing fray); Africa; the Caribbean; Australasia; and of course, the British Isles – get quite so stirred up about. Stanford 20/20 notwithstanding – a single match that can go on for days, with long lulls of little or no excitement? Or, a single "one-day" match that, literally, goes on all day? We must all be bonkers.

I was thirteen before absolute boredom and five television stations in a London hotel room lured me into cricketing fandom as the West Indies played England on the tele. And yesterday, as I happened to be driving past the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, listening on the radio as one of the most dramatic wins of recent memory played out a few feet away (a wagging tail in the batting line-up aiming for 10 runs from 2 balls to snatch a long-shot victory over Sri Lanka from the narrowing jaws of defeat?!), I couldn't help but smile and remember why it is we love cricket, and never give up hope on our Windies players.