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The wall in Jamaica stretches over 30 feet, and is an artistic tribute
to the sporting legends that have brought such glory to a tiny island.
© Getty Images
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If you’re not paying attention, you might just miss it, so unusual is the location. Opposite the National Stadium, it catches the eye as you turn left on to Roosevelt Avenue. I ask Spencer, my driver, to slow down, and then ask him what it is. “It da Jamaica wall of honour, man,” he says solemnly. When we get out of the car, I see that a drainage canal runs alongside the wall that stretches over 30 feet, and is an artistic tribute to the sporting legends that have brought such glory to a tiny island.
Some of the paintings are crude, especially the unflattering portrait of Michael Holding from his Whispering Death Afro days, but others are beautifully executed. The one of Lawrence Rowe – Yagga to those that adored him – playing a shot off the back-foot grabs your attention, as
does that of Courtney Walsh poised to bowl with that languid action.
And while the island’s cricketers have been tremendous ambassadors, starting with the incomparable George Headley, it’s perhaps revealing that the first three faces on the wall are all athletes. Arthur Wint, Jamaica’s first Olympic gold medallist [London, 1948], has pride of place, and next to him is Merlene Ottey-Page. But for drug cheats from behind the Iron Curtain, Ottey would have been the premier sprinter of her age, rather than someone doomed to silver and bronze.
Next to her is Donald Quarrie, sprint hero of the Montreal games and predecessor to the likes of Asafa Powell. The cricketers come only after that, and Spencer speaks breathlessly in his scattergun patois about Rowe. “I watch him as a little boy. He da man.” When I mention that even King Viv idolised Rowe, Spencer beams with pride.
The misfit among the murals is easy to spot. Sir Frank Worrell was born in Barbados and when I ask Spencer why he’s there, he has no answer. But as the memorial service for him at Westminster Abbey revealed, Worrell belonged to far more than one island. A captain who transcended the sport, he’s remembered as the binding force that helped to make this
conglomeration of islands the game’s premier power.
Continue reading "Wall of fame"
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Little Scotland - The kilts make an entry in St Kitts
© Cricinfo Ltd
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Scotland, famously, have never qualified from the group stages of any
of their innumerable football World Cup campaigns, and if their first
day of action in cricket's big fandango is anything to go by, a
similar pattern is set to be repeated in the coming fortnight. Massive
yet heroic failure is the nation's stock-in-trade in any given
sporting event - and their fans are contentedly resigned to their
fate.
"Scotland don't go to many World Cups in any sport these days, but a
trip to the Caribbean for two weeks … it's a tough choice." Martin
Brown, an investment manager from Edinburgh, puts the dilemma in a
nutshell as he stands beneath the scoreboard at midwicket, watching
the inevitable unfold before his eyes.
A muffed caught-behind from Colin Smith prompts a chorus of "are you
English in disguise?" as the wheels begin to come off a spirited
bowling display. Martin, however, is already adamant he has the reason
for the impending demise. "They did drop their best player last night,
so it's probably what you'd expect."
Continue reading "The sounds of Scottish burbling"
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The new stadium in St Kitts has been built on time and on budget
© Andrew Miller
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On many levels, the story of St Kitts is the most uplifting of a myriad of tales to have emerged from the chaotic preparations for this World Cup. It is the story of how a land the size of an English county town rose above its humble status to claim a share of the biggest prize of all. While the big dogs squabbled and were left floundering to be finished on time, St Kitts merely enlisted the help of another of the world's underdogs, Taiwan, and delivered a delightful 8000-seater stadium from scratch, on time and on budget.
It's a tale with all the ingredients for a classic feelgood movie, although the happy ending will have to remain on hold for a little while longer. On Wednesday, the World Champions, Australia, take on Scotland in opening match of Group A, and only then will we see quite what this remarkable little island has to offer. The initial impressions are encouraging if a touch confusing, for cricket is not a game inscribed on this nation's soul.
Continue reading "Small but perfectly formed"
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Viv Richards may be the king of West Indies, but he couldn't get an invite to the World Cup opening ceremony
© Getty Images
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The flight from St Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles to Antigua was among the shortest I’ve ever taken, and the azure blue waters that wash the island with a beach for every day of the year came into view within half an hour of taking off. With Air France having managed to leave one of my bags behind in Paris, the first few minutes on the island that spawned one of cricket’s most iconic heroes weren’t pleasant ones.
“First time in Antigua?” asked the woman at immigration. I said yes, adding that it meant a lot to me to finally be on his island. Growing up a brown boy in the UK of the early 1980s, that swagger, the success and those red-yellow-and-green wristbands meant everything to me. There were others too, like the magnificent Michael Holding and Liverpool legend John Barnes (with roots in Jamaica), but if you ever needed one good reason to not be ashamed of your colour, it was him.
Continue reading "The King misses the party"
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