Cricket victory and divine intervention
Posted on January 1st, 2012
Citizen K
Sri Lankan cricket lovers are indeed rightly elated at the fantastic performance of the team in the second Test in Durban South Africa.
However I would like to bring to the attention of the cricket authorities, actions by some cricketers which bring the game into disrepute and also ridicule the country.
A group of Catholic and Christian players have got into the habit of making the sign of the cross in the middle of the pitch when they are called to bowl or bat.Over the years we had seen on odd occasions a cricketer making this ridiculous gesture. But now it appearsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ that this is an organisedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ attempt to undermine the Buddhists in the team. During the last Test series against Pakistan I thought this was a deliberate attempt to provoke the Muslim Pakistanis. It was to their credit that the Pakistanis did not retaliate by praying to Allah in the middle of the pitch. Instead they concentrated on their cricket to beat Sri Lanka.
It is time that our cricketers realised that GOD is not a cricket fan. Even Christian cricket lovers in the UK are embarrassed at this spectacle. If our cricketers expect divine intervention let them perform these rituals in the dressing room. It is time that our Cricket Board took action to ban this embarrassing scene.
January 1st, 2012 at 9:07 am
Good. We should also stop the practice of hauling the team in front of priests for “blessings” before a start of a tour.
January 1st, 2012 at 7:39 pm
“But now it appears that this is an organised attempt to undermine the Buddhists in the team.”
What racist junk is this?
Can’t even write his/her name!
Christian players from SL used to do this. Mathews, Thilan, Dilhara and Chaminda Vaas are some of them in recent times. Mahela’a wife was on TV doing this outside the ground of course. In addition most players wear a white string on their wrists. A few players wear a beard as per their religion and a few Indian players wear a turban which is also a religious symbol. A few Indian players had worn Hindu religious symbols in matches. Cricket rules don’t prohibit that.
We should learn to respect each others’ religious practices if those don’t affect us badly which is the case.
No one (Mathews, Thilan, Dilhara and Chaminda Vaas) is trying to undermine the Buddhists in the team!
No Buddhist in the team EVER complained against this! :))
January 1st, 2012 at 10:48 pm
Citizen K whats your point?
How long have you been watching global sporting events not to know that the sign of the cross is not a request for divine intervention, nor a slur against other religions but a personal commitment towards performing well and at times even a request for protection. Is wearing pirith threads around one’s wrist then also a no no and the blessings some Bikkhu’s convey on the team before departure to a foreign country contemptible?
It is apathetic that the tiny minded pettiness of your item is so conspicuous. Will you be condemning Sri yanka’s First Lady too on some ludicrous issue simply because she is a Catholic? Bear in mind that Cricket is a gentlemen’s sport where tolerance and gentlemanliness are some of its foremost precepts towards the spirit of its identity and your comments are far from it!
January 2nd, 2012 at 2:22 am
I just wonder who this Citizen Kane is? What a pointless article. If any faith makes a man better, why not believe in it? Citizen Kane, please learn to respect other humans and their way of life. As long as it hurts none, why bother?