Things I would never have guessed, # 2,865

Guess who're a bunch of cricket fans?

Surprisingly, the Taliban are in favour of it. Before 1978, most Afghans despised the game as a British imperialist relic. But following the Soviet invasion of 1978, young Afghan refugees in Peshawar picked up the game from Pakistanis, much as Tibetan refugees in Nepal have adopted spicy subcontinental food. The Taliban took the game back to Afghanistan when they gained power. A cricket website writes:

In January 2000, the Taliban regime wrote to the Pakistan Cricket Board seeking support to join the International Cricket Council as an associate member.

A decorously bearded Afghan team played in Rawalpindi in May 2001.

Since Obama is now pondering whether to cut a deal with the Taliban to quiet down the NW Province and Afghanistan, perhaps a rep from the ICC should mediate?

... Jim points out, "Well, of course. How could they lose any games? Would you want to be on the team that beat the Taliban at anything?"