The Cricket Test
Aug 13th 2004 | 2:33 pm
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
The Cricket Test
Once upon a time, a UK politician had the bright idea of testing immigrants based on thier cricket loyalty.
I'm a Scot - only three generations pure, although my clan lineage goes back hundreds of years if you ignore the Irish input.
Rugby - I supported the Leicester Tigers, so by default I supported the England team - Leicester supplied a lot of the players. I also had problems supporting the Scottish national team when the captain CRIED after losing to an English team - what a wimp. If you can't kick thier butts on the field, don't cry in front of the fans!!!
Soccer (Football) - as a kid, I supported Glasgow Rangers because my Dad did. As an adult, I supported Leicester City, because it was my local team. World Cups are so rare, I ended up supporting England, because they had the only players that I recognised after 15 years in Leicester.
Now Cricket .... the most boring game to watch ever invented, closely rivalled by baseball. I've played cricket and enjoyed it on a warm sunny afternoon. But watching it? You have to be nuts or drunk to enjoy it. I got to the point I supported any team England were playing against because it got it over with more quickly and they usually finished it with more skill than England could ever muster. The West Indies, Australia, South Africa - I supported them all.
In Canada, I have no problem supporting my local and national teams - I support the Flames, I support the Stamps and I'll support Canada all the way to the Olympic medal ceremonies. If we don't win golds, I don't care - we were there, we competed with the best in the world and that's what counts!! In fact, give us some ice in Athens and we'll beat anyone at hockey who wants to challenge us!!
Cricket loyalty was a truly crap choice for national identity.
Maybe that explains why we're so confused when we get here - it all seems too simple in Canada.
Canada is just one country - not four countries tangled into a confused sort of unity?
How do you cope?
I'm a Scot - only three generations pure, although my clan lineage goes back hundreds of years if you ignore the Irish input.
Rugby - I supported the Leicester Tigers, so by default I supported the England team - Leicester supplied a lot of the players. I also had problems supporting the Scottish national team when the captain CRIED after losing to an English team - what a wimp. If you can't kick thier butts on the field, don't cry in front of the fans!!!
Soccer (Football) - as a kid, I supported Glasgow Rangers because my Dad did. As an adult, I supported Leicester City, because it was my local team. World Cups are so rare, I ended up supporting England, because they had the only players that I recognised after 15 years in Leicester.
Now Cricket .... the most boring game to watch ever invented, closely rivalled by baseball. I've played cricket and enjoyed it on a warm sunny afternoon. But watching it? You have to be nuts or drunk to enjoy it. I got to the point I supported any team England were playing against because it got it over with more quickly and they usually finished it with more skill than England could ever muster. The West Indies, Australia, South Africa - I supported them all.
In Canada, I have no problem supporting my local and national teams - I support the Flames, I support the Stamps and I'll support Canada all the way to the Olympic medal ceremonies. If we don't win golds, I don't care - we were there, we competed with the best in the world and that's what counts!! In fact, give us some ice in Athens and we'll beat anyone at hockey who wants to challenge us!!
Cricket loyalty was a truly crap choice for national identity.
Maybe that explains why we're so confused when we get here - it all seems too simple in Canada.
Canada is just one country - not four countries tangled into a confused sort of unity?
How do you cope?
Last edited by Glaswegian; Aug 13th 2004 at 3:16 pm.
Aug 13th 2004 | 5:54 pm
#2
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,153
From: Ontario, Canada
Re: The Cricket Test
Can't agree with you about the cricket! 
And I've always been irritated by the impression at least that every Scottish football fan seems to always want England to lose. Why is that? I appreciate the friendly rivalry and all that but I've always looked to the Scots, Irish and Welsh teams and hoped that they'd do well except when playing England.
Anyway Glaswegian it seems that you are the exception to the rule!
And I've always been irritated by the impression at least that every Scottish football fan seems to always want England to lose. Why is that? I appreciate the friendly rivalry and all that but I've always looked to the Scots, Irish and Welsh teams and hoped that they'd do well except when playing England.
Anyway Glaswegian it seems that you are the exception to the rule!
