Thwack! Left 4 Dead 2 survivors play a bit of cricket

Click image for a closer view of the zombie bashing

There's a cricket bat in Left 4 Dead 2, and after pondering how such an instrument could find its way to the southern United States (we certainly don't make them here, and every American knows that we don't allow people with them to enter the country), we've come up with a few theories:

• Someone smuggled the bat and full set of gear (notice how the zombie is dressed to play?) into the country, akin to how Snake Plissken was smuggled into Manhattan in Escape from New York

• Zombies really like sports

• The United States was chosen as a neutral place to hold a competition between two rival teams in cricket, and the zombie infestation happened during the game

• A wizard did it

• It's an homage to Shaun of the Dead

• Valve just felt like it

We asked some folks at Valve about it, but they wouldn't divulge any info. What do you guys think?

[Via IGN]