In one of the more unusual interferences in Test history, a group of Buddhist monks attempted to put a halt to play in a match between Sri Lanka and England at the SSC in Colombo in 2003. Mourning the passing of the Venerable Gangodawila Soma Thera of the Vajiraramaya Maharagama - a celebrated Buddhist - several dozen monks set on the Sinhalese Sports Club with the objective of stopping the day's play after the highly regarded Sri Lankan monk had passed away after a heart-attack in St Petersburg while on a visit to receive an honorary doctorate from the Russian Government. Wisden confirmed: The monks were furious that the cricket had not been halted out of respect for a well-known colleague. As a national state of mourning was not declared, the day's play was not canceled and the match continued with Andrew Flintoff and Gareth Batty at the crease for England. Sri Lanka went on to come out victorious by the enormous margin of an innings and 215 runs. In hindsight, for England, successful interference from the monks could have been a blessing in disguise...
