American Research Journal of English and Literature

As the cricketer of British origin, Michael Colin Cowdrey,is unanimously appreciated as a role model in cricket, being invited to Lord’s to deliver the annual MCC Cowdrey Memorial Lecture is considered by many cricket aficionados an honour bestowed not only on the speaker himself but also the country he represents. Before Kumar Sangakkara, world renowned cricketers such as Martin Crowe from Australia, Sunil Gavaskar from India, and Imran Khan from Pakistan had been called upon to perform this task (www.lord’s). Thus, when Sangakkara received an invitation to deliver MCC Cowdrey Memorial Lecture in 2011 at Lords, he represented not only himself but also Sri Lanka, his homeland. While others in general strive to preserve the respect of their homelands in front of international audiences at such places, Sangakkara not only alienates himself from his community but also is unduly critical of the cricket in his homeland. His behaviour well-formulated to suit the practice of servile diplomacy - the hallmark for the opportunistic many that travel abroad from Sri Lanka, signifies a parody of sportsmanship. Whatever Sangakkara said in his speech is immaterial to the intellectual and professional community of Sri Lanka, but it causes concern as it has been unfortunately included in the 2015 GCE (O’ Level) syllabus for Appreciation of English Literary Texts prescribed by the Ministry of Education, Sri Lanka. Therefore this paper on the whole pragmatically analyses the interpersonal rhetoric in the text of his speech in an investigation into the implications of including it in a national curriculum that is meant to ensure a healthy linguistic and attitudinal development in the user.