What is the future
by VANEISA BAKSH
Was it the historic nature of the match in being the first Twenty20 International to be played in the Caribbean? Was it the prospect of a West Indies victory? Or was it an indicator of how much more this form of the game is becoming the preferred choice for ticket money?
Kensington Oval on Friday was carrying a houseful of enchanted spectators, probably more in those few afternoon hours than it had housed over the entire five days on the preceding Test match. At least, so it seemed from the television coverage. It looked the way a Test match crowd used to look, though at times it sounded more like a football stadium.
It reminded me that it had been a very long time since we have seen a packed West Indian ground for a Test match. Perhaps in the Lara era, we could still be summoned by the prospects, even if we were not confident of seeing victories. But in recent times, the lacklustre quality of the games has sucked out something of its magic, and ticket costs have not made it quite the casual expenditure it used to be.
People made the investment in a Friday afternoon lime at the Oval, and waited for just about two-and-a half-hours to see a match that had to be chopped down to an Eleven11 because of rain. They hadn't come out to see full strength West Indies or Australian teams for the Tests, but they were here to see new faces get a knock; the appeal had to be the lime. I missed half of Australia's innings, but was really happy that I got to see the West Indian's.
Xavier Marshall was such a pleasure to watch. Something in his manner suggests that he believes he has the right to be at wicket; like a territorial creature, he conveys the sense that the crease area is his to control. He has the composure of a much older hand, and it augurs well for him and us.
I couldn't understand what that dreadful run was about. Had he lost his head so quickly?
Its irrationality was as worrying as his batting had been exhilarating. And given the way wickets clattered so quickly, should we be glad it was half a match? What would have happened if we had twenty overs to face?
It's hard to make much of the match itself (Twenty20 registers mainly as an entertaining diversion, and not as anything really substantial), but it was good to see a nicely pumped up team with an exciting victory under their belt setting off to the One-Day matches. (I can't recall ever seeing Shivnarine Chanderpaul so animated – such a priceless sight.)
Can we expect that the opening pair of Marshall and William Perkins will find that same opening spot on the One-Day team? One is almost uncharitably inclined to hope the two captains take their time to recover from their groin injuries, just to have these two get a run for the series.
But to come back to the Twenty20 business, it has obviously taken root and at a significant level. The difference in attendance figures tells us that it has penetrated the market. It is a good time for the analysts and experts who are planning for a West Indies cricket future to measure the attendance at the One-Day matches to see how they compare with the Twenty20 ones.
It is very difficult to watch the way Test cricket is wilting; it has carried so much for so long. But it would be a terrible thing to get so lost in nostalgia for Test cricket that we do not plan for the cricket of the times, and plan a future based on the form of cricket that is no longer ahead of the game.
* This column is republished with permission from the Nation News in Barbados, where it first appeared.