Runs Galore Expected in St Kitts

There is an air of anticipation in Basseterre on the eve of St Kitts' first ever international cricket game.?? The redeveloped Warner Park is a hub of activity as preparations reach their crescendo.? Wires are being run, the pitch is being measured and marked out, the party stand to the west is slowly taking shape and the furnishing of private boxes at the southern Lozack Road end is nearing completion.

At the Players Pavilion end to the North, media personnel are getting connected in order to keep the world abreast of this historic occasion.?? As it was when Grenada staged their first international match in 1999, the St Kitts-Nevis government has declared Tuesday a Public Holiday.

Out in the streets, there is a mixture of enthusiasm and nonchalance. My question to everyone I met today was "going to cricket tomorrow?" Petra, the waitress who served me breakfast this morning said she would not be there because she is not much of a cricket fan. "I'll be here tomorrow morning to give you breakfast," she promised. The lady in the electronics store said "I don't know the game. I don't see anything to get excited for." If it were football, she would definitely be there.

So would Melvin the taxi driver, who sports a miniature football on the rear view mirror of his bus. He, however, has to work to take advantage of the many jobs there will be for him tomorrow. His older colleague, who I've nicknamed 'Big Daddy', reminisced on last Saturday's thrilling game. "They fielded well. They made me feel like a giant," he said. When asked if he was going to be at the match, he put his hand on his heart, paused, then said very slowly "I will be in the Park. I want to be in the Park no later than 7:30am. All I'm praying for is to have a fair day tomorrow."

He has good reason to question the weather. According to the Head Groundsman Steadroy Douglas, "it has been raining for some time, last week Wednesday it started raining until Saturday afternoon." Fortunately, the ground has good drainage so there was no evidence of the downpour on the outfield.

What kind of pitch has been prepared? "What we prepared is something that will last for 100 overs and we should have a good bounce and good carry to the keeper. That is what we want. The pitch would be in good condition for batting and I would expect that if the batsmen apply themselves they would get some runs," said Douglas.

West Indies coach Bennett King agrees. "It looks like it's going to be a lot of runs in it. The boundaries are short and straight and I'd expect that there would be a lot of runs scored here. It looks like it's going to be pretty conducive to the batters from what I can see. It may hold up a bit, we just have to wait and see," he said. The captain was seen in conversation with the groundsmen trying to assess how it would play.

The Head Groundsman said they rolled the pitch with a little plastic in some areas, because there were some areas that were a bit soft. "So in order to get the rolling in, we did that, and that was to help to bind the clay," he stated. The clay came from Nevis, the other island in this twin island nation.

Runako Morton also comes from Nevis. For him, the occasion is even more special. He said "I think it's very good for the twin islands, it's good for exposure, but for me personally to put in words how much this means to me to be playing an international game – the first of that in St Kitts – says a lot about how far the country has come. I feel real good about it."

He is also hopeful that he will be one of the batsmen to apply himself to overcome the disappointment of the first two matches, adding that he doesn't think he will feel any added pressure from playing in front of his home crowd. He said "I am aware of it but I don't let it be too much a part of my feelings. You're professional, you've still got to come and do your job in a professional manner and I guess all that excitement and expectations, you will give account of yourself after the game when you do well and the team does well."

The West Indies are riding high after the two close encounters in Jamaica, winning the latter by one run. What did winning feel like? "Ohhhhh, it felt good. It felt real real real good, to know that we almost had it the match before and then we come back now in a similar scenario, defending runs again and came down to the last over again and could pull it off this time. I think it shows a lot about the depth in our team and the determination of our team right now," said Morton.

But like Lara after the win on Saturday, coach Bennett King doesn't want the public to get overly excited. "One match against India doesn't make a champion. There is still a lot of work to do and you've got to be able to back up wins like that with good performances again, so consistency will tell us if we are moving forward."

King said that evaluating the players after today's training session will determine if any changes are made to the team. He said "at this stage I'd say it's probably highly unlikely there would be too many personnel changes," indicating that there were no major injury concerns. "Our physio is working until midnight to 1:00am, but there is nothing that can stop people from playing tomorrow," he said.

Talking about Dwayne Smith's contribution as a substitute fielder last Saturday, the West Indies coach exclaimed "he's a one in a lifetime athlete, that boy! He's got a lot of ability. Fielding wise, I really haven't seen too much to match him around the place. He is learning all the time, he's only 21, 22, so he's a puppy as far as cricketing experience is concerned."

King further said "we've got some wonderful athletes, we've got four or five people who would be amongst the quickest over the ground anywhere in the world and I would include rugby playing nations as well."

So everything augurs well for a fantastic, pulsating day of cricket tomorrow. The lines will be long with fans expecting the West Indies team to replicate their last performance. Consistency is the key says Coach King. But the key to the tomorrow's weather lies in groundsman Jahbal's hands. When I asked him about the reports of recent rain and what he thought would happen on Tuesday, the Rastafarian confidently said "ah tell Jah to leave it until Wednesday!"

I hope Jah was listening.