Cricket as a great harmoniser

As far as Sri Lankans are concerned, cricket speaks the language of unity and friendship, besides proving a heady source of entertainment among almost all - big or small.

These familiar truths are pleasantly bearing down on us now as the cricket World Cup final in the Caribbean draws close and Sri Lanka emerges a strong contender for the “Crown”.

Except for the racial bigots and those rabidly championing the LTTE cause of division and discord, the majority of Lankans are solidly behind the Lankan cricket team, identifying with their fortunes as one man.

This tendency needs to be deepened because in countries such as our’s, cricket plays a vital bridge - building function. It brings our communities together and acts as a catalyst of national unity.

This is happening right now as Lankans from a multiplicity of backgrounds and beliefs, sink their trivial differences and unite firmly behind our cricket team and its onward surge for prime place.

The very composition of the Lankan cricket team invites united backing by the Lankan public. For, it is a multiethnic team and widely representative of the Lankan public.

It could be considered a mirror image of contemporary Sri Lanka, where all communities co-exist in perfect unity, except for those seeking to disturb the peace of the land through their racist and divisive ideologies.

The fact that people are coming together through cricket and are cheering as one man for one, common, great win, proves that the majority of Sri Lankans are for one, united, undivided Sri Lanka, where they could live side-by-side, instead of being forced into separate, artificial and regimented ethnic enclaves. In this instance, sports is proving the untruth of divisive, political ideologies.

Cricket has indeed had a chequered career in Sri Lanka because far from being a unifier of our communities, it was at one time an elite sport which was the pastime mainly of the Westernized intelligentsia and the leisure classes proper.

Today participation in the game has been democratized and it has not only been accessed by almost everyone in this land but has transformed into a rallying-point for nearly the entirety of the Lankan public.

Taking the game into every nook and corner of Sri Lanka is a singular triumph of our cricket administrators both past and present, and they deserve to be lauded for this broad-basing of cricket.

This bridge - building role of cricket must be further developed. It must be rendered increasingly accessible to not only all social segments but all our communities too.

Thus it could be transformed into a vehicle of ethnic harmony. Besides it could be also a promoter of ethnic interaction, as it is proving today.

By making cricket a great harmoniser and healer more strides could be made towards the establishment of national cohesion.

The administrators of the game as well as State officials should address their minds to these issues. We could muster support for a united Sri Lanka through the great game of cricket.