Marvellous Effort That!
In a comical tribute to the late great Richie Benaud, who passed away earlier this year on the 10th of April, 2015, Australian fans turned up to day 3 of the Second Test match against West Indies dressed as the much loved cricketing icon. The question is… were they wearing the cream, the bone, the white, the off-white, the ivory or the beige?
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FIRST TEST, WINDSOR PARK, DOMINICA, WEST INDIES.
Call me crazy but…put me on a tropical island with the promise of test cricket and I truly do find heaven. So when the stars aligned in 2015 for some cricket watching West Indian style on the islands of Dominica and Jamaica, all that was left to do was pack the bags and start dreaming of Zen.
The First Test began at Windsor Park in Roseau, Dominica on the 3rd of June. After two absorbing days of cricket viewed from the stands, having seen the Australian bowling line up of Johnson, Starc, Hazelwood and Lyon dismiss the West Indies for 148 before tea on the first day, and thirty-five year Adam Voges steady the visitors first innings to become the twentieth Australian to score a test century on debut, my two young boys requested a change of scenery on day three. “Please take us to the hill mummy. It looks really fun there. We want to go to the hill. Come on, let’s go, pleeeaaasse mummy,” they both implored.
So off I traipsed to the rickety makeshift ticket office outside the ground to purchase additional tickets for an afternoon on the hill under the blazing Caribbean sun. And thanks to the good natured, kind hearted fun loving Australians we met soon after, that’s when the fun really started.
Within a few minutes our cricket bat was spotted and seconds later a ball appeared. Before we knew it some of the guys from The Fanatics touring party and eight of their jovial tag-a-long mates, dressed by the way in delightful green and gold mini-dresses and matching yellow headbands, had surrounded the kids for an impromptu game of cricket.
Chaos ensued as these friendly, good natured, beer drinking Aussies proceeded to embrace and entertain my two young boys for the rest of the afternoon. When they weren’t playing cricket on the hill, they carried the boys on their shoulders, danced with them, included them in everything they did and went out of their way to make sure they were having the time of their life! My seven year old later declared it the most fun he’d ever had!
At one point they staged a hilarious mock wedding with a ‘bride’ and a groom called Gravy, named after the well known West Indies cricket fan from Antigua called Gravy.
For those of us actually watching the game…the cricket was absorbing as the experienced Marlon Samuels, 74, and debutant Shane Dowrich, 70, fought hard for West Indies in the second innings putting on a solid partnership and for a while it looked like the game might go into a fourth day. But West Indies again capitulated losing their last seven wickets for 35 runs, setting Australia just 47 runs to win the test. Enter David Warner who belted 28 in the blink of an eye as we cheered Australia to an emphatic victory late on the third day.
And so finally I returned. On a pilgrimage of sorts. To the small Caribbean island nation of Barbados. I wondered whether the sense of belonging that overwhelmed me sixteen years ago, the first time I visited, would again take hold. For years I had carried within my heart incredible memories of my first trip to Barbados, when I was twenty-six and alone in the world. Inexplicably back then it felt like I’d come home.
Midway through May, 2015, I found my way back. To the same little strip of beach on the south coast of the island, at a place called Worthing, in the parish of Christchurch. From my balcony I stood mesmerized by the sparkling Atlantic. Ever-changing shades of turquoise and blue like a colour swatch card made purely of water. Overtaken by a strong magnetic pull to be submerged beneath the warm tropical water; akin to the pull of an infant to the breast. An energy source crucial for survival.
If I listen closely to my heart’s desire, time and again it leads me to the water’s edge. In his landmark book, Blue Mind: the Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do, the American marine biologist, Wallace J. Nichols, describes the human – water connection as, “A mildly meditative state characterised by calm, peacefulness, unity, and a sense of happiness and satisfaction with life in the moment.”
There are many other things that bond me to Barbados. For a start we both share a deep love of cricket. And though the West Indies team is not the great cricketing force they once were, cricket is still a popular national pass-time. Historically cricket represents so more than just a sport. As the great Antiguan cricketer Sir Vivian Richards once told me, “…cricket is more like a religion than a sport.” When West Indies teams of the past were unbeatable, the spirits of the entire region lifted. (more…)
Reflections on the summer of 2014/15
The tragic death of Phillip Hughes on November 27th, 2014, was a devastating start to the summer of 2014/15. The twenty-five year old was struck by a bouncer and collapsed during a Sheffield Shield match at my beloved Sydney Cricket Ground. Phillip Hughes failed to regain consciousness and passed away in hospital three days later. As a mother of two cricket obsessed young boys, this horrific fatal accident left me pondering some of life’s big questions.
How do you explain the inexplicable? That sometimes life makes little sense. How do you reconcile the fact that dissecting the vertebral artery as a result of being hit by a cricket ball at the base of the neck is so rare it’s virtually unheard of? People just don’t die playing cricket. And yet it happened to this prodigiously talented boy from the country who fulfilled his dream of wearing the Baggy Green cap and representing Australia. That he died playing a game that doesn’t pose the huge risks of head injuries like some football codes leaves me stumbling for words. (more…)
Tamara J Lowe 