Why African countries issue stamps celebrating English cricketers

LEN HUTTON 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 (CAR), a former French colony with no cricketing pedigree. So it may seem odd that in 2016 the CAR 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).