Edgbaston party vibe helps bring distraction

Often sport can be a refuge from the madness of the real world and for a short time at Edgbaston on Friday evening it was possible to forget the chaos enveloping Britain following the country’s cataclysmic decision to leave the European Union.

There was a financial and political bloodbath in London, where share prices collapsed and the Pound crashed to a 30-year low, the Prime Minister announced his decision to quit in the wake of the Leave vote and the general air of panic, shock and anger felt by half of the country is still extremely raw.

However, when Jason Roy and Alex Hales were smashing the Sri Lankan bowling attack all over Birmingham it was possible, for a few brief moments at least, to put the day’s political earthquake to the back of your mind and marvel at the beautiful sporting brutality on display.

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The opening pair not only knocked off the 255 runs required in 34.1 overs to guide their side to a 10-wicket victory in the second one-day international but broke the record for the highest partnership for any England wicket in ODI history.

It was quite some effort, beating the 250 runs Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott put on for the second wicket against Bangladesh at Edgbaston in 2010, and handed Eoin Morgan’s team a 1-0 series lead.

However, it felt bizarre watching such a vibrant, optimistic and young team, led by a captain born in Ireland in Morgan and with a player in Roy born in Durban, being cheered on by a jubilant crowd in the most Eurosceptic region of these Isles.

The West Midlands, where Birmingham's Edgbaston venue is located, saw 59.2 per cent of voters opt to leave the EU. It was the biggest regional gap between the two sides and although the political leanings of those inside Edgbaston were bound to be varied, it was probably not making a wild assumption to suspect the very vocal parts of the rowdy Hollies Stand belting out God Save The Queen for much of the evening were probably not too heartbroken about cutting ties with Europe.

The party atmosphere at Edgbaston was in stark contrast to the mood of shock and despondency in London earlier in the day, a city where the Remain vote dominated.

People across the country are split on how yesterday's events will affect their lives. But what of cricket and, for Australians and other nationalities, their prospects of playing in the UK as professionals?

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For the likes of Mark Cosgrove, Leicestershire’s Adelaide-born captain who is playing on a British passport, nothing will change.

For those playing in county cricket on EU passports the news might not be so good.

Shortly after the referendum vote was announced, Ryan ten Doeschate, the South African-born all-rounder playing for Essex who has a Dutch passport took to Twitter to make his feelings clear.

The future is even more uncertain for so-called "Kolpak" cricketers in the UK, whose number are dominated by South Africans.

A European Court of Justice ruling handed down in 2003 in favour of Maros Kolpak, a Slovak handball player, declared citizens of countries that have signed the European Union Association Agreements have the same right to freedom of work and movement within the EU as European citizens.

South Africa is part of a bloc of African, Caribbean and Pacific nations that has this deal. So if the UK tightens up work permit rules for EU citizens it may mean less overseas players being registered as ‘local’ – as Australian Dirk Nannes was in the past during his various spells in county cricket thanks to his Dutch passport.

However, as with many aspects, nobody quite knows what this all means yet for cricket, nor for the economy, for the United Kingdom as a whole, for the West Midlands or for Londoners.

It’s at times like this cricket – and sport – can be a comfort blanket.

England, led by Morgan, will hope to offer more distraction from the seriousness of the real world during the final three matches of this one-day series. And boy, could we do with something to distract us right now.