Freedom! Yippee!

Cricket is definitely in the air.  The freshly cut grass, the sight of sweaty cricketers in the nets and the general buzz of activity around Sabina Park is a dead giveaway.  Last year this time, cricket was also in the air...but a different kind of cricket.  One with a whole heap of restrictions which made it seem, well, foreign. 

As I drove into Sabina Park today, I was like a kid let out to run on the playground.  All I kept thinking in my mind was "aaaah, freedom!" No officials to bar entry.  No need to show my media pass.…which I incidentally didn't have.  No police officer to search the car.  Just total freedom.  Proper Caribbean Cricket is back in my backyard. What bliss!

First order of priority was to pick up some boxes from the Digicel office.  Next was to find the 'new' WICB Media Man to collect my pass.  Reports of his sighting by the nets proved false, but a quick telephone call to him meant that I had time on my hands to kill.   He was in a 'short meeting.'

In the nets, new coach John Dyson and his assistant David Williams, were watching over the bowlers going through their paces and the batsmen at their respective creases.  Several local net bowlers were also present, among them a trimmed down Dwight Washington as well as the spinners Alton Beckford and Andre Dwyer.

As I paused from photographing the cricketers, I turned to see a well dressed gentleman in a fancy pair of sunglasses and suit emerge from a car.  I was about to ask the person next to me who this celebrity was but as he walked towards me, the face of Dwayne Bravo became clearer.  "You look like a rock star," I said.  He flashed his trademark smile and went to 'hail up' his team mates.  But first, there was a hug for the coach.  

The sun was blazing hot today.  I felt it for the bowlers, especially Daren Powell who was dripping with perspiration.  When Coach Dyson went over to him and said "I have good news," Powell smiled, but it was short-lived.  "You only have four more minutes to go."  Wipe that smile off your face Daren. 

Over on the field, the injured Chris Gayle was having a light batting session.  Several of my colleagues and I stood on the edge watching him going through the motions.  No play for him for a while.  Some other players who had finished their net session were doing some variations of exercises I do in my Pilates classes. 

His turn at bat completed, Gayle gave way to stand in Captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, who we had been told would come and field some questions.  (No such luck up to when I departed so nothing to report from the Captain just yet).  While waiting for him, one of my print media colleagues asked me "so what are your thoughts on the series?"  "I have none," I replied.

And it's true.  All I want to do is watch some competitive cricket with the freedom that I was accustomed to doing prior to the forgettable Cricket World Cup.  From all indications, that is a distinct possibility.  Yipee!