Cricket still rules in the West Indies
For most people, a holiday in Barbados with the family is an ideal opportunity to sit on white sandy beaches, drink luxurious cocktails and generally do absolutely nothing for a sustained period.
However, for the cricket obsessed Englishman (me), 10 days in the Caribbean provides the perfect juncture to assess whether cricket still has a place in the soul of most West Indians or as some commentators would have us believe, the game's appeal has died a death in the face of a consistently hapless West Indian team and the lure of American sport and in particular, basketball.
Thus one warm evening, I found myself playing pool in a bar in Speightstown with two Bajan youngsters when one of the locals offered some wisdom on how to pot a particularly difficult ball. 'Thank you' I said, 'How's your knowledge on cricket?' I asked. 'You like cricket? he replied. 'Come and have a drink.'
The next hour proceeded along a route of passionate debate and regular purchasing of Banks' beer interspersed with generous volumes of rum and coke. Strong opinion is not in short supply in Barbados and the conversation that night was echoed in my other meetings with cricket followers on this beautiful yet tiny Caribbean island - people in the West Indies still love their cricket but feel let down by the game's administrators and the attitude of the players.
When the West Indies were the undisputed champions of the cricketing world, their success was built upon aggressive batting and a battery of supremely quick and talented fast bowlers backed up by faultless catching behind the wicket. What's clear is that there was a failure to plan for the future and an assumption was made that the replacements for Malcolm Marshall and Curtley Ambrose would simply appear off the Caribbean production line.
While the rest of the test nations were looking at every possible avenue to improve the performance of their national team in the form of central contracts and elite academies, the West Indies relied on the notoriously cyclical formula of natural talent. This has resulted in a decade of poor results for the West Indies team (they were beaten 5-0 in the 1998 test series in South Africa despite having Walsh, Ambrose and Lara in the team) which has made people question the very nature of the sport in the Caribbean.
Despite the negativity surrounding West Indies cricket, in my short stay I saw enough positive signs to indicate that the game is still thriving amongst young and old and that all is required is some coherent management of cricket in the numerous islands allied to a more professional approach from the players. Fortune decreed that my visit should coincide with the Grand Final of the Barbados Premier League Competition at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown. The day's cricket there was a true reflection of where West Indies cricket is at, offering prodigious talent and some priceless comedy moments alike.
Maple Club were batting against some excellent finger spin from Banks, who conceded a 24 run lead on 1st innings. This was it...my chance to see what top standard Caribbean quick bowling was all about. The first ball was delivered by Kemar Roach, who the locals told me was in the Barbados side, and it whizzed through to the keeper at head height at a speed of at least 85 mph. 'This chap's quite lively' I thought. The next five legitimate balls went for 27 runs, in an over that contained 7 no-balls, 5 bouncers, 3 fours and one top-edged six and took 14 minutes to complete.
27 runs off the first over of an innings is an unusual occurrence but what also surprised me was the level of abuse being directed at the Banks' batsmen from the Maple fielders - I had always heard that West Indian cricketers weren't big sledgers. Chaos reigned. A quick single in the 2nd over resulted in a collision between batsman and fielder who together flattened the stumps at the non-strikers end before flooring the umpire in the same movement. More abuse followed both from the fielders and the crowd of 400 sitting in the Greenidge and Haynes stand.
When the wicket-keeper missed a routine throw back to the stumps which went straight through his gloves hitting him smack on the forehead, I couldn't take any more and burst out laughing as one would when watching a compilation of the best of Blackadder Goes Forth.
Eventually I regained my composure and was able to settle down to watch an intriguing game unfold. Throughout the match I witnessed a high standard of batting and some excellent bowling with a surprisingly good array of spinners. The fielding however, was of a completely different quality. Routine catches were dropped, diving over the ball seemed regulation and bowlers consistently had to pick balls thrown to them off the floor as nearby fielders could not avoid casually offloading the ball one bounce into their shins.
Being such natural athletes, I found the attitude of the players to their job in the field disappointing so it was a welcome surprise to find fielding of near professional standard at the final of the Barbados 20/20 'tapeball' competition the next evening. Under floodlights and with a background of reggae music, over 600 people watched St Peter's parish defeat St Lucy by 1 wicket at a ground no bigger than a small school pitch. Tapeball is a tennis ball wrapped in tape and has been a West Indian tradition since years ago. The pitch was sprinkled with several players who had represented Barbados and despite the batsmen not requiring pads or gloves, the result of this match clearly mattered to the 2 teams and the large crowd present.
Elderly Bajans sat and swigged from Banks bottles whilst youngsters played softball cricket during the break. The ground was alive and the party continued until well after midnight. I was fortunate enough to speak to many supporters who all wanted to see West Indies cricket return to the top of the tree and who all expressed the opinion that cricket was still the lifeblood of Caribbean sport. During my 10 days in Barbados, I saw two games of football taking place but not a single game of Basketball. Talented cricketers were everywhere. If the West Indies can amalgamate their natural flair for the game with better structure, professionalism and discipline, they will be on the road to restoring pride in Caribbean cricket and will be back to winning ways soon. Cricket is alive and well in the West Indies - go and see for yourself.
Wello
