CARIBBEAN INSIDER BLOG

My earliest memories of cricket were travelling to the countryside in Sutton on a Sunday morning to watch my Dad play cricket with his Greater London Council team. Well, I wasn’t really watching the cricket, but I was playing with the other children on the green grass, looking forward to lunchtime and tea time when we ate scrumptious creamy cheese sandwiches. After the game when all the players returned to the clubhouse, there would be lots of noise and banter that I didn’t understand, but I revelled in the special camaraderie. Often the wives would have their own game on a neighbouring pitch so there would be a review of this four and that catch by the ladies while they prepared the refreshments after the game.

I remember as a young teen having a go at scoring a couple of games, which helped me understand the byes, leg byes, sixes, fours, wides, overs and many of the other terms that seem to confuse most cricketing novices. I still don’t fully understand all of the rules and terms, especially the bowling and fielding terms (googly, silly mid on, fine leg, gully, deep extra cover, leg break, backward square leg and it goes on and on), but I know enough to appreciate a five day test match, although my concentration will not allow me any longer than a day – thank goodness for the introduction of the one day International (50 overs) and the controversial twenty overs forms of cricket (twenty overs cricket takes only 3 hours, which is heresy for the cricketing purists.)

Cricket, however, is less about the game itself, and more about the culture and people surrounding it. I recall my entire family and close family friends packing up picnic baskets and coolers with dumplings, fried chicken and canned sodas (which later served as instruments), and taking a long car convoy drive to Lord’s Cricket Ground in London to watch the West Indies play against England. In those days, the early eighties, the West Indies team were at the pinnacle of international cricket, in the golden period, the glory days dominating both England and Australia. The West Indian supporters in the UK were proud to cheer, drum and hit conch shells to encourage their “sons of the soil” from Jamaica, Trinidad, Antigua, Barbados and Guyana, and left the conservative “Lord’s” changed forever. That was my introduction to cricket in the Caribbean style!

I acknowledge that Caribbean cricket was probably the driving force for me transposing my life to the Caribbean. Watching the antics on BBC TV of comedians in the Antigua Recreation Grounds (Antigua was the pioneer of Carnival Cricket), the dancing of spectators between overs, and the commotion created for a six or a catch, while I, on the other side of the world, was sitting in a draughty living room in the British winter. We watched the faces of people we thought we recognised (“Eh look at Roger!  Hey, there is cousin Babs!) I vowed that I would be in the middle of that crowd one day. By April 1991, I had made it into the Double Decker stand of the Antigua Recreation Ground for the Australian tour of the West Indies, a member of  Chickie’s Hi-Fi posse with its all inclusive arrangement, where a pot of seasoned rice passed among former strangers; unlimited liquor flowed, music galore - ah, cricket heaven. And the partying did not stop at the end of the game. Everyone gathered in the “Party Stands” until way into the night to celebrate, regardless of whether the team was winning or not. In the early nineties, Richie Richardson, an Antiguan, was captain of the West Indies cricket team, so it really didn’t matter what the score was, we felt that it was Antigua - 1; the rest of the world - nil.

The other cricket venues in the region sought to keep up with Antigua, and Trinidad‘s Queen’s Park Oval and the Kensington Oval in Barbados were grounds with which I became familiar. Sabina Park in Jamaica was considered a close second to Antigua, but I still haven’t made it there for cricket.

Time has passed and with the decline in the superiority of the West Indies cricket team, the fever and fervour has tapered somewhat, along with the very disappointing Cricket World Cup in 2007 which really sought to impose very conservative rules and regulations on the exuberant West Indians and visiting spectators.

The recent ICC World Twenty 20 tournament has reinvigorated the region once more, with matches taking place in Guyana, St. Kitts, St. Lucia and Barbados in the most exciting yet controversial shortened form of the game. The ICC having learnt from the debacle of the World Cup in 2007 has allowed the West Indians spectators to be West Indian and have actively encouraged Carnival Cricket for which we are renowned.

The West Indies didn’t make the semi finals, but for those of us Caribbean Brits, we had a wonderful time cheering on the eventual winners of the tournament, England, which hasn’t won a global tournament in a very, very, long time. Although strangely enough, their three top batsmen were all born and bred in South Africa – go figure.

Incidentally, the South African team are currently touring the Caribbean in a series against the West Indies, making their first stop in Antigua. We spent a gorgeous day at the new Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium (named after the former West Indies cricket captain), which has a specially designed stand which visitors will enjoy as it comes complete with its own swimming pool.

Unfortunately, I can’t say the cricket has been glorious for the home team so far, but it has always been more than simply about the actions on the field, and more to do with the food, the drinking, the vendors, the iron bands, dancers, socialising with friends and the budding comedians heckling the fielders from the stands.

So if you are new to the game, be introduced by incorporating a beautiful island or two, fabulous accommodation, white powdery beaches, along with a couple of days of entertainment among Caribbean cricket lovers who will ball by ball explain to you every aspect of the game, the styles of the batsmen and the field placement deficiencies of both captains, while sharing macaroni and cheese pie and fried fish with you during the lunch break over a local beer.

I will be there again for the final match in Antigua before sending the festivities on to Dominica and Jamaica for two one day matches, and St. Kitts and Barbados for the final one day match and three five day Test matches ending on June 30.  We look forward to seeing you there.

(An updated post from January 2009).