Mervin Richards: the more talented brother? © Siddhartha Vaidyanathan

As astonishing as it may sound, Viv Richards's mother felt that he wasn't the most talented cricketer she'd seen. She reserved that accolade for Mervin, her other son. Mention it to Mervin and he blushes naughtily: "Nah. I was probably more wristy and stylish but Viv was something else."

Mervin didn't play too much cricket; football was his preferred sport. In fact, he's currently the president of the Antigua Football Association. "We played a lot of football. Viv was in defence, me in midfield. Viv had a great leap. He could clear from dangerous positions. He would often come from behind and score. Football lost a great defender in Viv."

Continue reading "The King's brother"

If not for a phone call from Ranjib Biswal, the Indian selector who is doubling up as the team manager, Rahul Dravid might have not addressed the press after the game. In what was a blatant lapse, Dravid left with the rest of the team after the game, forgetting his customary meeting with the members of the media. To his credit, though, he made sure he returned, termed it as a "miscommunication" and was pretty apologetic.

'T&T qualifying for the World Cup was like Lara breaking the world record,' says Dwayne Bravo, who had a rocking time in the ODI series against India © Getty Images

The crowds at the Queen's Park Oval haven't been short on the musical front. One of the catchy tunes has been the one toasting the Soca Warriors, the T&T football team that's gearing up to play in their first World Cup.

Cricinfo asked a couple of the Trinidad cricketers to talk about the excitement.

"T&T qualifying for the World Cup was like Lara breaking the world record,” said Dwayne Bravo. “Dwight Yorke may be old but he isn’t finished yet, he is still got a lot of strength and pace in his legs. Obviously, England and Sweden will make the play but we will be dangerous in counterattacks."

Dave Mohammed recalled that when T&T had qualified, by beating Bahrain in the play off, the cricket side were in Australia. "The Trinidad boys - Lara, Bravo, Ganga and me - celebrated with a small party together. Even though we may be playing cricket, we will follow our side closely on the internet and on TV."

	West Indian fans always find something to cheer about © AFP

Continue reading "It just takes one missile ..."

Work in progress: the Viv Richards Stadium in Antigua © Cricinfo Ltd

With direct flights all taken, I had chosen to go from St Kitts to Port-of-Spain via Antigua. With seven hours to kill, there was enough time to drop in at the Sir Viv Richards Stadium, which is being readied for the World Cup next year.

Located in Northsound, around 10 kilometres from the Antigua Recreation Ground, the stadium lies in isolation with large empty spaces surrounding it. With mountains enveloping the ground, though from a fair distance, the top view is more like a giant crater.

Like the new stadium at Trelawny, located in the north coast of Jamaica, what strikes you first is the Chinese influence. Around 300 workers from the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) drive the building project and are complemented by around 100 locals. But why has the project gone to a Chinese company? Superior efficiency and better man-management skills are two points that are usually cited.

Continue reading "Gearing up for the World Cup"

Q: Chanderpaul appeared to bat better once he got the runner. Why was that?

A: Ah. We need to trigger him off sometimes. He's probably something like what Gordon Greenidge did around 20 years back. (Limping on one leg, Greenidge hit an awesome 214 not out to storm West Indies to a victory at Lord's in 1984)

Q: Will winning the series in front of your home crowd be similar to T&T qualifying for the football World Cup?

A: Not really. We'll probably reserve that feeling for winning the cricket World Cup next year.

Q: Your impressions of Warner Park …

A: I played here 17 years ago when I had a wonderful time against a guy called [Narendra] Hirwani. But it didn't look like this. It's a great stadium now.

Q: Your reaction to Sachin Tendulkar missing out on this tour …

A: It's disappointing that he's not coming. We are all entertainers. It's a big loss to the Caribbean people, a big loss to viewing public. The likes of Sarwan and Chris Gayle have great respect for him. We [Sachin and Lara] do have matches to play against each other – in the ICC Champions Trophy, maybe in America. We want to win, but we want to win against the best team.

Asafa Powell: gearing up for the 'greatest race' © Cricinfo Ltd

The 100 metres race at the forthcoming IAAF meet at Gateshead in England, just about three weeks away, is arguably the most-hyped athletics event in recent times but Asafa Powell, the Jamaican sprint king, appears completely unfazed.

In a quiet setting in the National Stadium at Kingston, he seems unflappable, going through his paces undisturbed, preparing to take on Justin Gatlin, his arch-rival. Gatlin recently, for a few days at least, broke Asafa's record but now, after a few scientific adjustments, they stand on an equal 9.77 seconds.

When Cricinfo decided to disturb him, just for the sake of the high of speaking to the fastest man in the world, he obliges readily. He knows it's probably "the greatest race that will ever be run" but somehow manages to maintain a humorous countenance.

Continue reading "Asafa Powell - Jamaica's sprint king"

Collie Smith’s tombstone (Click here for a bigger image) © Cricinfo Ltd

When Sobers devotes an entire chapter in his book, Cricket Crusader, to a fellow cricketer, you realise he must have been special. In the chapter titled 'Collie', Sobers wrote: "He had the heart of a giant, an unquenchable ecstasy of spirit, a joyous nature and unmatchable zest for living - and for cricket." The performances show Collie to be special: at 21, in 1954-55, he scored centuries in consecutive games against Australia on his first-class and Test debut respectively; and at 24 he produced a hundred in his first appearance against England, during the course of which he hit a six off Jim Laker which broke the tiles on the ladies' balcony over long-on.

Continue reading "Never another like Collie"

Bob Marley's house in Trench Town ©Cricinfo Ltd

Once you enter Trench Town, it doesn't take too long to realise that you're in Bob Marley territory. The walls have caricatures of Marley and bright screaming headlines concerning the Wailers. In a lane opposite Boys' Town cricket and football club, is arguably one of Jamaica's most famous houses – the one where Marley lived.

There's a flag of Jamaica outside, music blaring from a speaker, and a couple of men, decorated with Rastafarian braids, smoking. We're not allowed inside the house but take a tour of the backyard. There's Marley's van, now in a dilapidated state, on the verge of collapse; there's Marley's statue, a medium-sized structure erected from plaster of Paris, with a guitar in his hand and a football at his feet. On the plinth, are drawings of Haile Selassie I, the Ethopian emperor who was a strong advocate of Rastafarianism, and Marcus Garvey, one of the pioneers of black emancipation in these parts. Hens cackle at Marley's feet; the music in the background gets louder.

Continue reading "Marley country"

It's raining on the eve of the match and the Indian batsmen are forced into a makeshift indoor arrangement. It's interesting to observe how they practice mastering their catching, with a pseudo hand table-tennis kind of game.

Two tables, one smaller than the other, are placed one next to the other. One player underarms it on the table and the other is supposed to catch it clean - no fumbling, no use of body, no juggling. He also can't catch it with his hands in the table area. Each fumble or drop costs a point. The first to five loses. Sehwag joyfully registers victory after victory, in a winner stays format, before Yuvraj ends his reign.

Yuvraj stays on to eventually beat all but there's one hurdle even he can't clear. Chappell arrives right at the end and upstages him 5-4 in the most thrilling event of the day. Frazer says Chappell can play this game all day and recalls a tour of the USA when Chappell went undefeated. Playing a similar sort of game called twisty-twosty, BJT Bosanquet invented the googly. Watch this space for further developments.

Fans watch the champs league final at Kingston club © Cricinfo Ltd

It's all happening at the Kingston Cricket Club at Sabina Park. Nothing to do with cricket, but a small matter of around 40 fans watching Arsenal take on Barcelona in the Champions League final. Support is divided. Raucous noise threatens to shatter a few glass bottles in the bar. The referee, being an easy target to vent spleen, dies a thousand deaths. Either way he is doomed – the abuses are guaranteed.

Arsenal lose one man. Mayhem. Arsenal score. Mayhem. Soon after half-time, the bar manager realises that people are more interested in the football than in his beer. He promptly switches off the television. Says there's construction work to be completed ahead of the India-West Indies cricket match.

The television outside is working on a tube that's on its last legs. Pictures are hazy, footballers are smudged colours on the screen, and the scoreline is illegible. Barcelona score. The roof quivers. Barcelona score again. The entire stadium reverberates. Barcelona win. Song and dance. Barcelona fans want all the beer in the world. Arsenal fans begin hunting for the manager.

Charlie shows the Lawrence Rowe grip © Cricinfo Ltd

Joseph Charles Morris, or simply Charlie, is integral to Sabina Park. Way back in 1959, he came to the ground as a volunteer ball boy. Soon he was part of the groundstaff, earning a royal sum of five shillings a week. Thirteen years later, he was elevated to the post of curator. Where there's Charlie, there's a story. He has the memory of an elephant and the cheekiness of a squirrel.

In 1972 both Charlie and Lawrence Rowe made their Test debuts, one with a roller and the other with a bat. Charlie did his bit by giving the local hero a belter; Rowe responded by smacking 214 and 100 not out. Charlie remembers the knock, tells you how Rowe's grip was one of a kind, tells you that there was no batsman more beautiful to watch, repeats that there was no batsman more beautiful to watch. "He whistle when he cover-drove maan, we soon whistle with him."

Continue reading "The curator with an elephant's memory"

	A smiling slow death © Cricinfo

The setting for the Indians’ opening fixture of the West Indian tour was in stark contrast to what they experienced in Pakistan, on their previous overseas tour, five months ago. In January this year, they kicked off their campaign against Pakistan A at Bagh-e-Jinnah, a pastoral setting in Lahore, in extremely chilly conditions.

Security concerns prompted the authorities to disallow the fans into the arena and eager spectators watched from beyond the pickets. It was more like watching an exhibition match with the mute button turned on.

Jarrett Park was quite the opposite. Around 4000 enthusiasts packed the picturesque football stadium – the last international side to play here was England, back in 1998 - and created a carnival atmosphere. A commentator kept them updated with the goings-on and triggered several moments of mirth with his jocular style.

Continue reading "'Slow death' at Montego Bay"

Baldhead bowls, the new dread bats © Siddhartha Vaidyanathan

Sreesanth, it is learnt, shaved his head for religious reasons but Pathan and Raina joined the when-in-Windies-do-as-the-locals-do brigade couple of days after landing.

Continue reading "Baldheads - the new dread"

The Melbourne Cricket Club © Cricinfo Ltd

Like Sabina Park, it has a bar near the pavilion, with photographs of famous teams decorating the walls. The dressing room is quaint – with wooden benches arranged in a classroom-like setting and shelves on one wall that act as kit-bag enclosures. One of the shelves has a rusty label that says C Walsh. He’s all over town this fella – in his bar Cuddyz in New Kingston, in his sports shop in Courtney Walsh boulevard, in Sabina Park ...

Continue reading "Melbourne in Kingston"

The scene outside the Norman Manley Airport in Kingston © Cricinfo

Long flight journeys and slow-moving immigration queues can get tedious. I was half asleep while exchanging my currency at Heathrow airport, almost mistaking a five hundred dollar note for a fifty. Despite wanting to enjoy the country side, and despite Dire Straits blaring into my ears, I ended up snoozing on the bus to Gatwick.

But sometime before noon, with my watch still showing Mumbai time and with my thoughts focused firmly on sleep, I entered a quite exotic world. It was something I had only seen on television and read about. I had just checked into the British Airways flight to Kingston.

As I settled to wait in the corner of the departure lounge, there was someone humming Bob Marley’s No Woman, no cry, several young men with the characteristic Rastafarian braided hair, little kids with curled mops, as if intentionally burnt. There was a Jamaican businessman “traveling to see the cricket; to see Lara’s boys whip ye guyz”. There was a buzz around, people conversing in patois, an almost broken English, joking, singing. Suddenly, all sleep disappeared. It was time to get up, stand up.

Continue reading "Rum, coffee, Marley and cricket"