Cricket is a welcome distraction for Sri Lankans in crisis

The cricket-crazed South Asian island nation is facing its worst economic crisis in recent memory, enduring acute shortages of food, fuel and medicine. The government has shut schools and universities and has limited fuel supplies. "Yes there is a problem in the country, people have become poor and helpless with all kinds of problems.

We have been living a monotonous life and sometimes spent five, six seven days in fuel lines," said Ujith Nilantha, who watched the first test between Sri Lanka and Australia with his 10-year-old son last week in the southern city of Galle. "There is no happiness for children, and we can't provide what the child needs. When we watch this (cricket) it brings a mental healing," added Nilantha, whose livelihood in the tourism sector has been disrupted after arrivals fell with the energy crisis.

Nilantha said he had planned to suggest his son play cricket, an expensive game by Sri Lanka's standards, but his life changed quickly with the economic crisis and his plans were shattered. "We love cricket but we can't spend all our time on cricket, with the employment problems and all of that. But I expect to get some relief from the pressures by watching cricket." Cricket, a legacy from British colonizers, has become part of the local culture in Sri Lanka as in many South Asian and Caribbean nations.

It is has been looked upon as a unifying factor in a country torn apart by racial, religious and political discord. Even a bloody quarter-century civil war did not hamper the progress or the following of the sport in Sri Lanka. The now-defeated Tamil Tiger rebel group which fought for an independent state silenced their arms for the 1996 World Cup final, when Sri Lanka beat Australia to win the title.