Bigger, Redder Cricket

Yes. I know. The slogan of the new West Indies cricket sponsors Digicel is in fact 'Bigger, Better Cricket,' however, Sabina Park was such a sea of red today that it just seemed apt to allude to that in the title of this article. Seeing the ground a few days ago and comparing it with today, it's obvious that many people worked into the wee hours of the night to give Sabina Park the Digicel feel.

Those of you who have pounded the pavement for job interviews, and have probably read all the 'How to' books on landing the job, know that you should wear red to an interview if you want to make a bold statement. Certainly, the branding around the ground was 'in your face', not unlike the way in which the mobile phone company has gone about penetrating the market in the Caribbean. This type of promotion is one of the factors which have got it the large market share that it reports to having taken from its competitors.

So what did 'Bigger, Better Cricket' mean for the fans who turned out to Sabina Park on Saturday? Let the people in the upper Eastern Stand tell you, for there was where the action was most noticeable today. First of all, that was the stand that filled up first, even before the coin for the toss was spun. The George Headley stand took its time with patrons trickling in throughout the first half of the West Indies innings.

Dancing girls with flags of all the cricket playing nations in the West Indies, a sound system playing sound bites including this year's theme song by Alison Hinds and Spragga Benz, and four DJs to create and maintain the hype were features of the Eastern Stand.

Donald Lyew of Creative Options and Promotions, a firm contracted by Digicel to do its promotion at Sabina Park , explained the focus on the Eastern Stand. "For want of a better word, they call this the 'Poor-man Stand' but we know that the big followers of cricket are here in the Eastern Stand. These fellows can tell you about history. We decided to work with these people. They seemed more vocal so we wanted to orchestrate them to pump and lift the West Indies cricket team at this time," he said.

Lyew said that there were a lot of promotional giveaways such as noisemakers, T-shirts, caps and free credit for Digicel mobile phone owners. "We did some surveys today and we asked around and so far they have been very receptive to the whole thing," said Lyew. Everyone likes freebies.

The West Indies players were asked earlier in the week what they liked at a ground and their input was also used in creating the atmosphere in this stand. At times during the West Indies innings, you could hear the crowd in the Eastern Stand chanting 'four, four, four, four'. On two occasions when the explosive Dwayne Smith was batting, once in the 42nd and another in the 44th over, his next balls raced to the boundary, as if on cue with the chants.

Gerry Brown has been sitting 'right in this seat' in the Eastern Stand since he was eight years old. He says in his 19 years of sitting in that stand, it has been lacking entertainment and thinks that what he experienced on Saturday was good for the stand.

John Myers admits to having defected from the more staid George Headley stand and took up his seat, feet dangling over the ledge of the Eastern Stand as he spoke with me. He agrees with Brown's assessments and will be back for more on Sunday, especially since it saves him J$1,500 on the ticket price!

For print journalists, a significant difference this year was the provision of lunch and hot drinks. (Yes, say it. I just have to mention food.) The series magazine which was included in the media kit was almost a pocket book size instead of the letter size ones we are accustomed to. Statistics of past series were also included in the kit.

Between the Kingston Cricket Club and the Air Jamaica stand sat the red and white Digicel tent. In front of it stood several policemen, red seamed ones.

The television feed would have shown the Air Jamaica stand looking like the Red Sea when fours or sixes were hit by the West Indians. Lyew had said that noise was a request from the West Indies players, especially when they are down. During the South Africa innings, you could hear lots of it. It looked as if the West Indians were going to have to buy a wicket.

They finally got their first in 23rd over, when South Africa had motored on to 131. The second came when captain Graham Smith lost concentration and chased a wide ball to be out for 103 in the 35th over. Then there were no more.

At the end of the 42nd over when the visitors were 225 for 2 and it was obvious what the match results were going to be, spectators started streaming out of the ground in droves. They timed it right. It was over in the 45th. They would have left wondering if they had really seen bigger, better cricket.

There would have been no doubt however that there was bigger, redder cricket on display at Sabina Park for the start of the ODI series, and unfortunately, it wasn't the West Indies players making the bold statement.

* Click here for a photojournal of the first ODI between South Africa and the West Indies.