Some years ago I read in newspaper report online that the Chinese authorities had set a goal of achieving world dominance in Cricket - a sport which the Chinese are not noted for. This seemed pretty astonishing and I eventually realised that it may have been an April fool spoof which had been picked up by another newspaper and reported as fact - I have seen that happen before.
However, if you Google China+Cricket you will find that there are some developments in Chinese cricket and that the new president of the MCC, Mike Gatting, hopes that cricket will make further inroads into China.
But I can report a connection between cricket and a country which is now known to have substantial and impressive civilisations at least as old as those in China, Egypt and Sumeria.
During our recent visit to Peru we were in the National Museum in the capital, Lima, looking at some Moche pottery. Moche pottery is stunning in its quality and quantity. It is particularly noted for the heads and faces, which are amazingly lifelike. Every head is different and seems to represent a real person. There are colossal numbers and yet not one is female. Here is an example:
But look at the first picture. Click on the picture to enlarge it. Then tell me that is not a cricket ball. Ignore the structure on top - as you see from the second picture, you get that on the heads as well because all these items are made to represent drinking or storage vessels and to accompany important bodies into the burial chamber.
I await my Nobel Prize or at the very least a special award from the MCC.
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