-europe- — Ashes Cricket 2009

It didn’t.

Weird. A glitch. He kept playing.

The match ended. A new screen appeared. Not a victory screen, but a map of Europe, whole and glowing. The ashes of the burnt currency rained down as snow over the Alps. Ashes Cricket 2009 -Europe-

The final over. Australia needed 12 runs. Europe was fracturing. The ball was a blazing sun. Leo, as a bowler named "M. Johnson" (but with a French flag), ran in. He bowled a yorker. The batsman—a facsimile of Angela Merkel in cricket whites—missed it completely. It didn’t

Every boundary he hit was a trade agreement ratified. Every wicket he took was a border dispute settled. The run rate wasn't runs per over; it was "Euros per Capita." The fall of a wicket coincided with a news ticker flashing across the bottom of the screen: "SPAIN REQUESTS BAILOUT." He kept playing

Leo realised he wasn't controlling a cricket match anymore. He was controlling a diplomatic crisis.