Saturday, March 31, 2012

Photo(s) of the day: Maasai warriors playing cricket

Caption at the source:  
Maasai warriors from the Laikipia region in Kenya train before a cricket match at the 'Last Man Stands' championships in Cape Town, South Africa. Cricket is being used to 'empower the youth in Maasai communities', while campaigning against ills like child marriages and female circumcision. Photo: AP
The Atlantic has a wonderful collection of photos as well, of which my favorite is the one below:


But then, there is nothing without any controversy:
Trainer Steve Tikolo says he wants the novice players to wear cricket whites.
But they want like to wear sandals made from recycled tires, beads and bracelets and a traditional "shuka" wrap, which they wrap around the body.
The team, called the Maasai Warriors, is preparing for the Last Man Stands Twenty20 Championship in South Africa.
"It's not just a bunch boys going to play cricket, they will also be promoting Kenya's image by playing in their traditional attire, adding some African flavour to the tournament,'' Aliya Bauer, who established the Maasai Warriors in the Rift Valley Province five years ago, told the BBC .
In case you are wondering, yes, there is cricket in the US also, where the game was once "one of the more popular sports in America in the mid-19th century" until, in a typically American way, baseball marketed itself as less British and more American!  Anyway, in the latest tournament, which was a qualifier for a world championship, the US did win two of its matches!

1 comment:

Ramesh said...

Priceless photo !