Читать книгу We’re British, Innit: An Irreverent A to Z of All Things British - Iain Aitch - Страница 51

The sound of leather on willow and the long shadows on county grounds are often cited as being two of the things that most evoke an image of Britishness, though cricket is really most popular in England, where the sport was invented. It is thought to have been around in the southeast since the fourteenth century in some form, though the development of the cricket tea and the five-day test came somewhat later on. The modern game was given nobility and popularity in the nineteenth century by cricketing legend W G Grace, who is as famous for his lustrous beard as for his skills as a batsman. In recent years the cricketing authorities have tried to sex the game up by introducing ever-shorter matches, but true fans enjoy the endurance and possible letdown of the five-day game, where hours of nothingness are interrupted by the most fleeting moments of action. Watching such a game is as close as the average British male ever comes to a state of Zen, though this is often aided by several pints of lager. Those unable to attend big games should listen in to Radio 4, where commentary on the game is squeezed in between audio clips of elderly men eating cakes.