Happy Independence 2014

Barbados used to be filled with passionate, knowledgeable cricket lovers. Sadly that group is no longer in the majority, but I count myself as one of them.

My earliest Barbados cricket memory is from 1980 when we played Combined Islands at Kensington Oval. The Barbados team included the likes of Haynes, Best, Payne, David Murray, Marshall, Garner, Clarke and Collis King. Wow!. The Islands had some fire power of their own though, with Richards, Roberts, and Winston Davis.

Combined Islands made 250 something in their first innings and then Barbados lost Best early, bringing together Haynes and Payne. I was at Kensington that second day and what I witnessed cemented my fledgling love of the game. Thelston Payne played one of the most glorious innings I have ever seen. A masterclass of controlled aggression but more importantly, the most exquisite timing I have ever watched. Quite often he played what looked like a defensive shot only for the ball to rocket to the boundary. And you hardly heard the sound of the ball striking the bat so silky was his touch. He made bowlers, even of the quality of Roberts and Davis, look ordinary.

Payne made 140 and I believe it was his first century for Barbados. Emmerson Trotman also made a big century and Haynes a 50, and yet I can remember nothing of their innings.

Happy Independence Barbados.