“ An Island’s Eleven- A History of Cricket in Sri Lanka”, the MCC/Cricket Society and Wisdon Book of the Year 2023 by esteemed British author, Nicholas Brookes, was unveiled at a Book Launch held at the Mount Lavinia Hotel recently. The book is a cricket lover’s gem as it gives a detailed insight into the history of Sri Lankan cricket from its British colonial roots, to school and domestic level. It perfectly describes the meteoric rise of the Sri Lankan One Day side to worldwide cricketing fame after the memorable ICC Cricket World Cup victory in 1996 against Australia, under the captaincy of Arjuna Ranatunga, who was also one of the guests of honour at the Book Launch alongside the Chief Guest, British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka,H.E, Sarah Hulton OBE and the New Zealand High Commissioner, H.E Michael Appleton.
London born Nicholas Brookes stated that growing up in the 1990s he was, like many cricket fans,instantly hooked by the Sri Lankan batting and bowling heroics of cricketers such as Murali, Sanath Jayasuriya, Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga during the 1996 World Cup. Nicholas’ passion for cricket inspired him to write on the topic of Sri Lankan cricket history as he felt that there was a dearth of literature on Sri Lankan cricket. He relocated to the island to learn more and fell in love with the culture, local cuisine and captivating scenery that surrounds most cricket stadiums, particularly the picturesque Galle International Stadium .
As the book states, from Sathasivam to Sangakkara, Murali to Malinga, Sri Lanka can lay claim to some of the world’s most outstanding cricketers – larger-than-life characters who thumbed convention and played the game their own way. More so than anywhere else, Sri Lankan cricket has an identity. “This is the land of the pint-sized swashbuckling batsman, on-the-fly innovators and contorted cryptic spinners.” With “An Island’s Eleven”, Nicholas Brookes has satisfactorily detailed the Sri Lankan cricket saga based on extensive research. The book is highly engaging and well written,filling a significant gap in the literature of the gentleman’s game in the island. In the concluding sentence of his Preface Nicholas states; ”For as much as I’ve tried to ‘tell the story of Sri Lankan cricket’, this work is merely a starting point !”
NELUM BUDDHADASA
