So I’ve managed to fulfil one of my lifelong ambitions – to watch an England test match abroad. And what better place to start than the Caribbean, and more precisely the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad? By all accounts the most picturesque ground in the West Indies, and certainly the stadium with the liveliest ‘calypso’ atmosphere.
So did the trip live up to my admittedly pretty high expectations of following England away in the West Indies? There were a few things that I was hoping for / expecting to get the most out of the experience... and it pretty much delivered on all counts.
1. Atmosphere
Growing up watching the great West Indian sides of the eighties and nineties, the one thing that always appealed so much about cricket in the Windies was the unique atmosphere created, a million miles from the G&T, don’t walk on the grass, reverential atmosphere of Lords et al, but that of passion, noise, character – a joyous celebration of cricket and life. The final day delivered that in spades... in retrospect a close fought West Indies series clincher was probably the best result possible, for a nation deprived of cricketing success in the last decade a rare series victory at home brought out the very best in the home crowd, with a busy Queens Park Oval bouncing to the sounds of the steel band, and fuelled b y local rum and coke, chanting and celebrating a morale boosting rear guard ‘victory’. I didn’t realise it before hand, but that’s exactly what I wanted to see.
2. Performances
The other thing I wanted was a memorable test match, one that gave me plenty of memories both of the game, and of the individual performances within it. Like much of the test cricket played recent months the pitch was too placid to deliver a perfectly balanced game of cricket, but England’s aggressive batting and declaration on the last morning did at least provide a tense and thrilling final afternoon climax, when Jimmy Anderson, Swann and Panesar all bowled excellently. The game also saw seven centurions including by both captains and the star batsmen Kevin Pietersen and Shiv Chanderpaul. So while the game wasn’t quite a classic it certainly delivered enough to be genuinely memorable.
So did the trip live up to my admittedly pretty high expectations of following England away in the West Indies? There were a few things that I was hoping for / expecting to get the most out of the experience... and it pretty much delivered on all counts.
1. Atmosphere
Growing up watching the great West Indian sides of the eighties and nineties, the one thing that always appealed so much about cricket in the Windies was the unique atmosphere created, a million miles from the G&T, don’t walk on the grass, reverential atmosphere of Lords et al, but that of passion, noise, character – a joyous celebration of cricket and life. The final day delivered that in spades... in retrospect a close fought West Indies series clincher was probably the best result possible, for a nation deprived of cricketing success in the last decade a rare series victory at home brought out the very best in the home crowd, with a busy Queens Park Oval bouncing to the sounds of the steel band, and fuelled b y local rum and coke, chanting and celebrating a morale boosting rear guard ‘victory’. I didn’t realise it before hand, but that’s exactly what I wanted to see.
2. Performances
The other thing I wanted was a memorable test match, one that gave me plenty of memories both of the game, and of the individual performances within it. Like much of the test cricket played recent months the pitch was too placid to deliver a perfectly balanced game of cricket, but England’s aggressive batting and declaration on the last morning did at least provide a tense and thrilling final afternoon climax, when Jimmy Anderson, Swann and Panesar all bowled excellently. The game also saw seven centurions including by both captains and the star batsmen Kevin Pietersen and Shiv Chanderpaul. So while the game wasn’t quite a classic it certainly delivered enough to be genuinely memorable.
3. Off the pitch
Watching cricket isn’t all about just the game, there’s so much more to enjoy, it’s about the build up, the anticipation, it’s about the banter, talking about everything and nothing. It’s about getting slowly toasted in the sunshine with friends. I enjoyed everything about the experience from a great hotel, to the delights of goat roti, or salt fish with rice in the ground, to that guilty pleasure of joining in with the bulldog element in the Barmy Army, through to long evenings on Carib beer in the local bars. A fantastic experience all round.
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