Cricket - Love At First Sound
I can pinpoint the first spark of love I experienced for the sport of cricket, down to the hour.
It was Saturday, December 29th, 1979 and my father had taken my sister and me to visit with our family friends, the Burnett’s. By then we lived in Prior Park, but the Burnett’s lived on the little street I grew up on, Bay Woods in Orange Hill. (That street is now called Beckles Road after my ancestral clan apparently.)
It was around 7:30 PM when we arrived, and Mr. Burnett was listening to cricket - West Indies playing Australia in Australia - on an old timey radio.
One of these, but much bigger
In those days cricket under lights was not really a thing, so in my confusion I asked my father how could the players see when playing cricket at night.
I was 10 years old, ok!!
My father explained that in Australia it was around 10:30 in the morning and talked a bit about time zones. I was enthralled.
So while the adults were talking among themselves, I focused on the game. I wasn’t a huge fan of cricket at the time, but I was immediately taken by the Aussie accents and the detailed description of the action. Tony Cozier then came on and his fluency and obvious love and knowledge of the game was a revelation especially given that his was the sole West Indian voice in a sea of Australians.
Moreover, Viv Richards and Gordon Greenidge were batting and the superlatives that were being used to describe Viv's stroke-play in particular resonated with my pre-teen self. Richards eventually made 96 but it was like 296 to my ears.
Master Blaster Jammin’
I don't remember any specific detail of the commentary that evening, but to this day I remember how it made my feel. First, there was utter fascination for the strange accents describing batting, bowling and fielding positions as if they were vocabulary in a foreign language. I could hear the reverence in those voices when they spoke of Richards and the powerful West Indies team, and that awe was transferred to me right there and then. I was thrilled by the very idea that the West Indies was the best team in cricket.
The line-up for that test was Greenidge, Haynes, Richards, Kallicharran, Rowe, Lloyd, Deryck Murray, Roberts, Garner, Holding and Croft. Maybe it’s my own sentimentality but I don’t think there’s been a better team in cricket since.
West Indies went on to easily win this test and the series. In fact from that match until 1995, West Indies lost only one series: a contentious affair against New Zealand immediately following that series against Australia. That’s 15 years of complete domination by the team I supported, during which time my initial fascination became an all out passion for the game. Listening to cricket at night in my bed on my own transistor radio became a feature early on but this eventually gave way to watching television broadcasts - both live and recorded, attending games in Barbados and overseas and ultimately looking back at the glory days through the magic of YouTube.
Even today, with my Windies being a pale imitation of the team I grew up supporting, I remain a diehard, passionate West Indies cricket fan, and that will not change despite the unfortunate shenanigans by players and management alike over the last decade or so.
So December 29th, 1979 between 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm: love at first sound.
