Even the loudest vuvuzela has nothing on a papare band. Put a few fans and a papare band together in the bleachers and you have a formidable cheering section. Time and again, the raucous, infectious rhythms of papare have been the soundtrack to our victories and failures on the field.

Last Sunday, World Cup cricket fever officially embraced Sri Lanka with the inaugural match witnessed by a packed crowd in the new 35,000 seat Hambantota Cricket Stadium. Dressed in blue, the mascot of the tournament - Stumpy the little jumbo was seen walking in the grounds waving a bat, while the TV footage captured its real life counterpart, a wild elephant at the boundary of the stadium in the background of surrounding scrub jungle.