It's time for another World Cup and the singing of “It's coming home” may once again be heard in the pubs and on the playing fields of England - only this year it's cricket that's coming home! Although we possibly shouldn't get our hopes up too much: since it's inauguration in 1975 the ICC Cricket World Cup has been hosted by England four times (though matches have also been played in Wales, Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands when England have previously hosted it!) but they have yet to win it. However, they have a better record than the England football team in that they have made it to the final three times.
Image by starj on from pixabay.com
I have to admit that I don't really understand cricket. We played it
a bit at school but those who were keen played on the square with the
PE teachers and the rest of us organised mini games on other parts of
the playing field. I usually volunteered to field close to the
boundary so I could lie down in the sunshine for most of the lesson!
The
American director Jim Jarmusch said “Cricket makes no
sense to me. I find it beautiful to watch and I like that they break
for tea. That is very cool, but I don't understand.” Even for those
who don't follow or understand cricket, the game has a certain allure
to it – the thought of an afternoon in the sun watching a game
being played that is competitive but not (usually) aggressive is very
appealing. It has a relaxing and even meditative quality, at least
in watching it.
George
Bernard Shaw, somewhat unkindly, said that “The
English are not a very spiritual people, so they invented cricket to
give them some idea of eternity.” It's fairly easy to make tenuous
links between cricket and the Christian faith: three stumps and the
Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit); four bails and the four
Gospels; two umpires and the Old and New Testaments etc. But the
idea that we can understand something of the supernatural through the
natural world is one that is deeply embedded in Christianity.
We believe that
creation bears the fingerprints of its Creator; Psalm19:1 says “The heavens declare the glory of God; the
skies proclaim the work of his hands.” And Paul writes in Romans1:20 “since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities –
his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being
understood from what has been made, so that people are without
excuse.” But ultimately humans, made in the image and likeness of
God (Genesis 1:27), can reflect something of God through our creative
endeavours, including sport. And because God has put a sense of
eternity into our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11) we long to seek out those
things which connect us to that yearning for eternity.
Whether cricket is an
like an eternity of heaven or hell, I'll leave you to decide!
