Sabina Passion
From LAWRENCE ROMEO in Jamaica"What a reaction!", exclaimed the spectator sitting in the seat next to mine, as the drum line in the sun-baked temporary stand next to ours rattled out a tattoo and bodies danced and cavorted in the glorious sunshine at the refurbished and reconditioned Sabina Park in Jamaica.
Dwayne Smith had just gone down on one knee and powerfully swept the Pakistani off-spinner over the bleachers at the south-western end of the ground, and perilously close to where the brand new state of the art electronic scoreboard and video replay screen was installed for his second scoring shot.
Maybe Dwayne Smith was a bit miffed that the operators of the video feed had put up the picture of his namesake and teammate Devon Smith as he came out to bat, or he was just feeling the vibe of the emotionally charged Sabina Park fans that refused to let the West Indies team lose.
Even when master batsmen Inzaman ul-Haq and Mohammed Yousuf threatened to wrest the initiative away from the West Indies bowlers during Pakistan's ultimately fruitless run chase, the crowd started wave after Mexican wave, urged on by the drummers and horns and whistles to send waves of positive energy down to the players out in the middle. Even the Pakistan Passion mascot could not help out his team, soon shedding his sign and doffing his green hued wig as the heat and West Indian pressure took its toll.
"Oh, you haven't heard anything yet," I replied to Emmit, the part Irish Englishman who was currently living in the South of France and planned for three years to visit the West Indies with his buddy James for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007. "For sheer energy, Sabina is the best ground in the Caribbean to watch cricket," I added. Even with the daunting lines at the concession booths and the lack of video monitors nearby to monitor the games progress, which prompted me to visit the nurses station and claim that I was dehydrated and about to collapse to score a much needed bottle of water, the new Sabina has lost none of its unique flavor.
As far as spectacles go, all the events leading up to yesterday's game were spectacularly well organized, from the outstanding opening ceremony, (even though Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller needs to be reminded that the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 is a Caribbean wide affair and not strictly confined to Jamaica) to the well attended Frank Worrell lecture held at UWI which featured a panel comprised of among others, Rohan Kanhai, Lance Gibbs, and Dr. Gerry Alexander, two of them former West Indian captains.
With eighteen thousand rabid burgundy wearing fans cheering them on, and the spirit of the '75 and '79 teams hanging its considerable influence over yesterday's effort, history will record that the West Indies won the opening game of the World Cup and history will also record that Dwayne Smith emerged as Man of the match for the same game, the WI team has set the bar very high.
They have now placed themselves firmly among the favorites to win the entire tournament. However, we will have to wait to see whether this opening Cricket World Cup will signal the resurgence of the game in the Caribbean, or, will it just stop at being The Best World Cup Ever!