A high quality T20 cricket final on an equally top class cricket ground situated in the Diego Martin community was experienced last Sunday (June 4th, 2023) in the North Zone T20 final of the tournament. Pitted against each other in the game were Police versus Glenora.
Frankly, what struck me most (accustomed as I have become to watching international cricket on television and at international grounds such as the Queen’s Park Oval) about the evening of play was the enthusiastic and sizeable community crowd which turned out to identify with their teams and players.
Police opener, Nicholas Sookdeo Singh, playing as if he were addressing the West Indian white-ball selectors, slammed his way to an undefeated century, he thumping big sixes frequently onto the nearby roads, all but won the game for his team, the Glenora batsmen eventually and without too much fight, surrendered the chase.
As reported elsewhere on this site, Police put on a formidable score of 216 –2 to challenge the Glenora batsmen, they were only able to muster 101 all out.
Man of the Match Nicholas Sookdeosingh with a power-hitting 100 not out was a standout and an obvious and overwhelming choice for the accolade.
It was obviously not a new experience for those who attended the game, the ladies in entertaining fashions, the “saga boys” flashing their outfits and quite a few children, hopefully the stars of tomorrow, got a feel for the good ole game which has made West Indians for long periods feel on top of the world; but in the last 20-plus years …. Fill out the spaces.
Only recently I felt impelled to write a series of newspaper columns on the absolute neglect and in instances the sinful ignoring of long and significant sporting facilities across the country.
Among such grounds, the Guaracara Park, which once hosted international track and field events and first class cricket between Test-playing nations. I was in this instance more than impressed that such a quality ground and enhancing stands could exist in the Diego Martin community. The hope must be that the community itself protects its facility from neglect and eventual unending decline.
The pitch seemed quite well prepared and offered the kind of flat surface with a true bounce for good stroke-making. For bowlers willing to bend their backs there was a measure of bounce. But for those who bowled short and without the kind of pace, spin and guile to trouble batsmen, it was “stick” for them, the batsmen, especially the law enforcers, frequently cleared the boundaries.
Having grown accustomed to the extremely high standard of fielding in international T20s, the ground-fielding was of an acceptable standard. However, too many catches, which have become expected in international games, were dropped.
A couple Glenora batsmen shaped in the chase of the 200-plus score as if they would offer a contest; but they soon faded and faltered.
“Village Cricket”, without in any way seeking to minimize its quality and surely not its importance, is where cricket was born in the West Indian islands; it is where the future lies. It’s the kind of setting from which the great West Indian players, going back to those of the 1920s into the generations thereafter, first made their appearance.
Also recognized in the final were the efforts of the umpires on show. Obviously well trained and accustomed to being tested in intense conditions; they made decisions easily and were proven to be right. It was also refreshing that batsmen walked when given out and bowlers, notwithstanding disappointment when decisions did not go their way, accepted and returned to their marks.
And that takes us to the administrative and organizational elements which were put into the tournament.
From start to finish of the game and all that went before and after could only have been the result of quality planning and operationalization of those plans. Too often it has become habitual that administrative bodies at the local, national and regional levels of cricket do not contribute sufficiently to making for quality performances in West Indian cricket in all formats.
Taking the ego, personal-ambition and promotion out of the effort seems to me, sitting on the sidelines, as a key factor for success; working in the cause of advancement of cricket being the critical input needed.
It’s the kind of effort needed everywhere and at all levels if West Indian cricket is to “rise again like ah burning fire”.
A note regarding full and honest disclosure: the writer is a member of the North Zone Cricket Council, however he had absolutely no hand in planning and administering the tournament, none whatsoever.
