Sunday 18 February 2007

There ain't anything like cricket in the Caribbean

If asked 'where in the world has the best cricketing atmosphere', I wouldn't hesitate to say the Caribbean.

Where else in the world do you see the crowd on their feet and goes berserk when a boundary gets smacked. Whenever something dramatic happens, you will know by the crowd's reaction. The music also adds flavour to the game which makes cricket in the caribbean one of a kind. A boundary just got smacked and the music goes up and so does the fans. There are fans that blows the Conch shell that makes a great noise; something not heard any other place around the world.

When you're in the stands, the fans just get together and enjoy the moment together and share some jokes. Nothing brings people together in the Caribbean like cricket! It's always intense when the matches are playing and there are a lot going on in the middle. The crowd wants to get into the action too. If a wide is bowled that the umpire hasn't called, you can hear the crowd going wild and saying 'wide! UMPIRE!!! Wide!' The fans are very boisterous in the Caribbean and the noise they make for such a small population is amazing! They enjoy their cricket a lot and that makes the game more enjoyable!

Come this World Cup, the West Indian 'posse' will make it more enjoyable and something you won't ever forget as long as you live!

Monday 12 February 2007

The astute ones will prevail.....

With the World Cup just around the corner, everyone predicts a cracker of a tournament!! Ofcourse every nation will be doing their best to try and win it, but playing alone wouldn't win any of the sides the Cup.

The matches will be close together in terms of date, so there wouldn't be enough time to get a great pitch all the time. The first 2 matches might be there for a nice, hard and bouncy surface with the ball coming on, but as time goes by, it will wear and tear, and with the sun beating down, there will be cracks and this is when the slower bowlers will come up thrumps! Having said all of that, poor selection and misjudgement of the pitches could affect the performance of the teams.

SA as we all know, are reluctant in playing spinners! It will haunt them this time around; and short pitch bowling all the time won't work in the caribbean at all! You will get savaged! Simply because as the tournament goes by, the surfaces would have lost some of it's life and that includes bounce and pace. Now is where the great and clever players will succeed. Pressure will be on when the pitch isn't in your favour and you have to have a good brain - something that is lacking in this sport today - to get out of the mess!

Trust me, by this April, we shall see the boys separated from the men!

Friday 9 February 2007

A major but yet an unrecognizable role....

When a match has been played and it came out to be a brilliant one, we always only credit the players. We will say; “Watch a knock from Sachin!” “Brilliant bowling by McGrath to demolish…..” but we all fail to say; “Watch a brilliant wicket by the curator.” or “A magnificent outfield thanks to the groundsmen.”

The Groundsmen plays a big role in the out come of the match and how sweet the match is going to be. If it’s a poor wicket, the groundsmen are always the first to get the blame, but when it’s a great wicket where a thriller has occurred, we don’t say “…a great wicket from the groundsmen.” We have to understand that without the groundsmen in the first place, there would be no game! Without the groundsmen producing a great pitch, we won’t see a good game. The groundsmen are the ones responsible for bowlers ripping apart batsmen on wickets conducive to pace. They are the ones that make the pitches where we see great knocks from very special players.

Credit must be given where due and it’s time we appreciate the wonderful works by the groundsmen who makes cricket a very special game!!

Saturday 3 February 2007

The sweetness of school cricket

School cricket is probably the first form of cricket competition anyone will participate in. It's definitely not one of the highest class, however, it's a very sweet and exciting form of cricket competition.

When you're in training, there possibly can't be anything better than a bit of banter between the lads. If you're of high quality of whatever skill you do, you'll enjoy it out on the park a lot. I can go reminiscing about the days of beating the batters bat with huge turn. It's a great feeling; something you don't get much of at the higher levels.

Playing matches used to be great as it's your young days in the game and you enjoy it a lot. You're there trying to look professional. There's a lot of stroke plays and wickets so it's mighty fun playing in school matches. Any total can be a winning one!

On the day of the matches use to be tons of fun! When the guys get into the place where we eat breakfast, there's a lot of humour in the air. Person's having banter with each other troubling them about "they are gonna get a duck...", or "he's getting hit a for pure 6." Some others will tell a joke and the whole team will just laugh and enjoy the moment together. That's what being a team is all about too. Let me tell you guys, enjoy the pre match fun and have a lot because if you're on the losing side, there won't be all that much after. Me myself has had that experience. When we lose, the guys aren't as funny as usual. I have appeared in 14 school matches and have won 5 and lost 9 so I know all about how it feels. If we win, then it's pure jubilation from the guys.

Sometimes, when we'd finished our matches and were going to take the ferry to go back to where we came from, we all use to put together money and buy bread, sausages and soft drinks and eat it on the ferry as a team and continue giving jokes. Beware! Don't ever abondon your food as it won't be there when you get back!