Why did Chinua look forward to the opportunity to play cricket as noted in the memoir, There Was a Country?

For Chinua, one of the most thrilling aspects of attending the Government College in Umuahia was the prospect of playing cricket. It was considered by many in his world to be an exotic sport, a sport of the royals. Soccer had become commonplace in Africa; cricket had taken its place as the nation’s elite sport and was a symbol of the country’s maturation and advancement.