Why African countries issue stamps celebrating English cricketers

LEN HUTTONCARCAR was an accomplished cricketer. English fans cherish the record 364 runs he racked up in a Test match against Australia in 1938. It would not be unreasonable to surmise, however, that this feat is less remarked on in the Central African Republic (), a former French colony with no cricketing pedigree. So it may seem odd that in 2016 the issued a set of commemorative stamps to mark the centenary of Hutton’s birth—and odder still that French-speaking Niger and Portuguese-speaking Mozambique did the same (see picture).The practice, it seems, is not restricted to bygone English cricketers. Jan Brueghel the Elder died 395 years ago in January, a milestone Sierra Leone’s postal authorities considered significant enough to warrant a philatelic tribute. Other African states seem to prefer Baroque music to Flemish art. It is just possible that the people of Guinea-Bissau might have let the 260th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach slip by without much fanfare. Fortunately, their postal service was less remiss.