This rambling but endearing book is disguised as a sports story yet it's really about a man's love and disgust for his country. We inherit the power lust of our conquerors but none of their vision.' Instead, we inherit Portuguese lethargy, Dutch hedonism and British snobbery. Ideally, we Sri Lankans should have retained our friendly, childlike nature and combined it with the inventiveness of our colonisers.

He taunts Sri Lanka as only a broken-hearted patriot can: 'Nations are prey to my genetic Murphy's Law. is Sinhalese, but the years of bloodshed in his nation have turned him into an wannabe atheist who believes in little except cricket, his loyal and loving wife and his next drink. The super-talented Mathew is the product of a mixed marriage, and it's W.G.'s belief that ethnic prejudice kept his subject from getting a real chance at representing Sri Lanka in more international competitions, a travesty in a nation that's so passionate about the sport. Many others on the island are Tamils, who are mainly Hindus. Most of its people are Sinhalese, who are mainly Buddhists.

Like such once promising nations as Yugoslavia, Lebanon or Rwanda, Sri Lanka is a country that's been torn asunder by ethnic and religious divisions. Sri Lanka won a world championship a few years ago, a nice distraction for the troubled island off the coast of India. Graywolf Press, 397 pp., $16 (paperback). But it's always been rough and ready, and many nations that were once part of the British Empire have gotten so good at it that they've equaled and often surpassed the sport's inventors. For his last major effort, he decides to tell the story of Pradeep Mathew, a fellow Sri Lankan who disappeared after showing the potential to be the greatest cricket bowler of all time - the equal of, say, Nolan Ryan.Ĭricket may seem to Americans to be a quaint, genteel game best enjoyed over high tea at Buckingham Palace with the queen. is a sportswriter killing himself with booze. And while there may be no practical use in that, there is most certainly value.' But once in a while, the very best of them will bowl a ball that will bring an entire nation to its feet. 'Left-arm spinners cannot unclog your drains, teach your children or cure you of disease. In a thousand years, grass will have grown over all our cities. But, at the risk of depressing you, let me add two more cents.

Of course there is little point to sports.

The legend of pradeep mathew