Yes!  A Canadian cricket fan.  Fantastic.  Yeah, you're right.  Matches are like epic battles - especially if they are between India and Pakistan.  That can get intense.  It would actually be entirely truthful to say that it is possible that either India or Pakistan could start a nuclear war if they lose against each other.  Cricket is the national sport of both of those countries, partly because it can be played with a few sticks and an orange.  What vexes me is why Australia even play cricket.  It doesn't make sense.  Here is the toughest environment on earth, populated by people who dislike "the pomms", complete pansies, and who play "Aussie rules", which is like rugby but more brutal, and they play cricket.  Mad.
  I would agree with what you say, ben_banned, but slow sports are relaxing.  And there's nothing quite like it when you're playing cricket and you catch someone out with a catch.  But I also really, really like hockey, the fastest, hardest, most brutal sport of them all.  Variety is the spice of life.

english, of course we aren't proper irish, but instead proper ahhh hmmm, i don't know really but some of us fight anyone who says we aren't (even each other)
anyway i was born in london, my parents are scots, i was raised in NI in the church of ireland (despite being an atheist) which, confusingly, has a catholic rite but an anglican communion. so instead of saying "proud to be a Prod" i say "indifferent to being a european citizen currently resident on the island of ireland" this doesn't have the same ring to it, but allows me to take a cynical and detached view about people who actually think irish politics and politicians are important.
out of all the national anthems it isn't god save the queen, or the soldiers' song, but "flower of scotland" that moves me most. which shows that i'm not as sane as i would wish. 
sv