Oh those crazy West Indian fans!
Updated On: 02 May, 2010 04:19 AM IST | | Ian Chappell
Ian Chappell's several trips to the Caribbean as player and commentator have afforded him the opportunity to witness the characters in the stands. Sample this Sunday MiD DAY special...
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Ian Chappell's several trips to the Caribbean as player and commentator have afforded him the opportunity to witness the characters in the stands. Sample this Sunday MiD DAY special...
The ICC made a huge mistake when they held the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean. The location wasn't the problem. It was the banning of musical instruments and stripping the matches of a Caribbean flavour that stifled the tournament.
Cricket in the Caribbean is about bouncers, swaying palms, drinking rum, bouncers, swashbuckling performances, bouncers, music and rib-tickling humour. Okay, I overdid it a bit with the bouncers but that used to be the domain of the West Indies fast bowlers and the patrons, especially those gathered at Sabina Park in Jamaica and St John's in Antigua, loved every moment of those excesses.
The World T20 being played in Guyana, St Lucia and Barbados won't be chock full of bouncers; the laws don't allow it. However, hopefully, this time there'll be plenty of colourful characters attending, armed with musical instruments and their witty and insightful sense of humour. The likes of the eccentric, cross-dressing Gravy along with Mayfield who used to enter a hastily built boxing ring in Antigua to participate in a staged slugging match that kept the crowds literally rolling in the aisles.
Drums and fun
Mack Fingle, who would arrive at Kensington Oval with his drums and fellow band members and dispense an equal mix of music, humour and cricket commonsense. The only thing that stopped Mac entertaining the masses was the fashionably late arrival of the elegantly dressed King Dyal. It's as rare as an Ashish Nehra athletic stop to see a tie in the Caribbean, but Dyal would make his grand entrance wearing a white suit, spats, a hat and bow tie, wielding a gold walking cane with which he acknowledged a standing ovation from his adoring Bajan fans.
In Trinidad, there was Big Tony and his card-playing mates ensconced in the Sir Learie Constantine stand at Queen's Park Oval. They never appeared to watch the cricket but didn't miss a trick. Once, when asked by the dealer: "Who blind?"u00a0
The ICC made a huge mistake when they held the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean. The location wasn't the problem. It was the banning of musical instruments and stripping the matches of a Caribbean flavour that stifled the tournament.Cricket in the Caribbean is about bouncers, swaying palms, drinking rum, bouncers, swashbuckling performances, bouncers, music and rib-tickling humour. Okay, I overdid it a bit with the bouncers but that used to be the domain of the West Indies fast bowlers and the patrons, especially those gathered at Sabina Park in Jamaica and St John's in Antigua, loved every moment of those excesses.
The World T20 being played in Guyana, St Lucia and Barbados won't be chock full of bouncers; the laws don't allow it. However, hopefully, this time there'll be plenty of colourful characters attending, armed with musical instruments and their witty and insightful sense of humour. The likes of the eccentric, cross-dressing Gravy along with Mayfield who used to enter a hastily built boxing ring in Antigua to participate in a staged slugging match that kept the crowds literally rolling in the aisles.
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| It seems this Antiguan's favourite player has hit the high notes |
Drums and fun
Mack Fingle, who would arrive at Kensington Oval with his drums and fellow band members and dispense an equal mix of music, humour and cricket commonsense. The only thing that stopped Mac entertaining the masses was the fashionably late arrival of the elegantly dressed King Dyal. It's as rare as an Ashish Nehra athletic stop to see a tie in the Caribbean, but Dyal would make his grand entrance wearing a white suit, spats, a hat and bow tie, wielding a gold walking cane with which he acknowledged a standing ovation from his adoring Bajan fans.
In Trinidad, there was Big Tony and his card-playing mates ensconced in the Sir Learie Constantine stand at Queen's Park Oval. They never appeared to watch the cricket but didn't miss a trick. Once, when asked by the dealer: "Who blind?"u00a0
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