Seattle

Samoa’s lively version of cricket turns Jefferson Park into ‘a little piece of home’

It could almost be the British countryside, with dozens of people engaged in a sport that looks a lot like cricket. But there’s a distinctly Polynesian flair to the proceedings.

The players are dressed in colorful wraparounds, not prim British whites. Food booths offer boiled green bananas, Spam sushi and poi drinks. Pounding music blasts from speakers while an emcee narrates the action with the fervor of a World Cup telecaster.

Welcome to kirikiti, Samoa’s version of England’s quintessential sport.

The biggest e-sports event in the world

It's the biggest event of its kind in the world with a prize pool of nearly $24m (£18.4m) and is hosted by Valve.

Sixteen teams, with players from all over the world, are competing in the season climax for online battle arena game Dota 2.

For many of them the prestige of lifting the trophy at this ultra-competitive event is far more important than the cash.

Alex "machine" Richardson is Dota 2's answer to Gary Lineker and has been hosting the live stream of the group stages, which are taking place in Seattle.