Greeks open their eyes to Britons and cricket
Like most nations, Greeks have been baffled by Britons and their bizarre ways of life
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
Like most nations, Greeks have been baffled by Britons and their bizarre ways of life. And cricket is just one example of a sport that dumbfounds the ignorant bystander. But Greece is changing, and although their deep-rooted traditional way of life is unlikely to change (thankfully so), they are showing a greater adaptability to the west. To Britons and their silly game of cricket.
Expats in Greece sometimes struggle to understand our hosts, just as much as Greeks are baffled by the British. Greeks at the cricket followed our lead of occasional polite applause with puzzlement. "And you sit and do just this for five days?" said a bemused friend.
For Greeks, life, and especially sport, is to be shouted about with tears of joy or sadness.
Socially they respect our professionalism but are amused at our punctuality. They don't understand our irony, or our self-effacement, and think we are aloof.
Michael Cooper's piece in today's Telegraph, which only uses cricket as a vague hook, is well worth a read.
Will Luke is assistant editor of ESPNcricinfo