Many people know that Jack Nicholson and Spike Lee are die-hard basketball fans and that Drake cannot get enough of the Toronto Raptors. But what about cricket? Celebrity cricket fans are not as outspoken as basketball enthusiasts, so don’t feel bad if you don’t know them. You are not alone.
Let’s look at five celebrities who, despite being great at what they do, also find the time to watch cricket and dedicate more time and energy to following the sport than the average fan.
Mark Wahlberg
The actor who starred in the remake of the James Caan classic The Gambler confessed to playing a lot of poker and Texas Hold’em hands, and was no stranger to blackjack either. That’s not surprising. Looking at his card-handling ability, you would think he is a regular at the best online casinos, and might even mistake him for an experienced croupier.
However, not many people know that The Other Guy’s actor is also an avid cricket fan. The former rapper started watching cricket only a decade or so ago, but he got so much into the sport that he bought a stake in the Barbados Royals (previously known as the Tridents).
Gary Lineker
The former England striker is not only good in front of goal. He is also an excellent cricket player. In fact, before deciding to start playing football professionally, Lineker was on the cricket school team and was the Leicestershire School’s skipper. He even thought that he had a better chance of making it as a professional athlete if he played cricket and not football.
Sam Mendes
The famous Oscar-winning director loves several sports, but cricket has a special place in his heart. The man responsible for creating masterpieces like American Beauty and Revolutionary Road, as well as a couple of James Bond flicks, compared football to films, but cricket to something more than that.
Mendes said a football match was fast and exciting, but often failed to give you much at the end. However, with cricket, you got a more fulfilling reward, even though you had to spend more time getting there.
Rory Bremner
Scottish media personality Rory Bremner became famous for impersonating British politicians, such as Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He is so good at what he does that he makes a living out of it.
In his spare time, though, Bremner enjoys watching cricket to unwind and was probably jumping for joy when Scotland continued its winning streak by beating the UAE in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers.
Stephen Fry
Arguably the biggest cricket fan among celebrities in Britain, Stephen Fry lives and breathes the game. On one occasion, he even joked that if he ever had children, he would name them Collingwood, Anderson, and Monty.
Of course, he was referring to the trio that helped England earn a draw against Australia—Paul Collingwood, Monty Panesar, and James Anderson. That unlikely result turned out to be a massive momentum shift for England in the 2009 Ashes series, so Fry’s choice of names isn’t as surprising as it initially seems.