Sitting on the bus in downtown traffic is an entertaining opportunity for people watching. The upmarket offices have staff sticking cotton wool balls to windows adorned with red Santas in sleighs full of presents. Restaurants play Christmas songs. The date? The first of December. The place? Kandy in Sri Lanka. The occasion? The first test match of the series against England. Sri Lanka is predominantly Buddhist, but Catholic, Muslim and Hindu communities sit happily side by side. Schoolchildren are dressed in immaculate white European-style uniforms, some...