Playing Cricket the Calypso Way!

This god-blessed country, Bhutan, has given me so much that I dread the very thought of doing her any harm unintentionally. I dread the very thought that I might do something that will have some negative repercussions, especially on the students, the future of the country. I am an early riser. I have always been. This morning was no exception. I got up at around 5 in the morning, went through the plans for the standards I teach, making sure that I had everything under control. When the big hand of the clock of my bedroom pointed to 3 and the small hand at 7, I thought of switching the TV on (on hindsight, I am surprised as my cable line was supposed to be disconnected from today on!) in order to grab some quick news on BBC, while mouthing my breakfast. As I fiddled with the channels, someone hitting a towering sixer in a cricket field caught my attention. I heard the commentator saying that that was the fourth hit out of the ground. I was about to switch on to the next channel, when the word ‘live’ at the top corner had me foxed again. A live cricket match at these early hours of the morning is always news material.

Now, let me tell you this about the glorious game of uncertainties, dear reader, that no game has ever attracted me like the way Cricket has. I still remember the early days at 41, Deblane, when all my brothers and even the cousins, my nephews and nieces would be discussing an interesting match of the day or of the previous night like nothing else mattered to us. My eldest brother from Australia would always talk about the greatness of the Australian cricketers. Of course, Australia might have handed over a 5-1 series defeat to the mighty West Indies, one of the most disgraceful drubbings to the men from the Caribbean’s under Clive Lloyd, thanks mainly to their fearsome pace duo of Geoff Thompson and Dennis Lillee. Most of the family members did not understand him, not even me and it took me some more years to realize that my bro was a die-hard Indian fan and very few people could be so crazy about the Indian batting maestro, Sachin Tendulkar.

No talk on Cricket can be complete without the mighty West Indies It would be like talking about football without Brazil! Other footballing nations may have come a long way. They may play a more powerful brand of football, but for sheer class, grace and style, no other country can hold a candle to Brazil.

Now to come back to the Calypso cricket, the men from the Caribbean Islands seemed to have hit rock bottom when they were thrashed in the first day and night test cricket by England by a whooping margin. There is no denying the fact that the West Indian Cricket is going through an upheaval inspite of the West Indies having won the World T-20 Championship twice. Critics like Geoffrey Boycott remarked, after the debacle of the first day-nighter, that the present West Indian team is the weakest touring England in a long time. But don’t you ever, mind my words, don’t you ever dare to write off the West Indians. They may be unpredictable at times but they are like a wounded lion when their national pride is at stake. They came back strongly in the second test at Headinglay to record a memorable win over England by chasing a target of 321 on the fifth and last day of the test! Let’s hope for the benefit of Cricket alone that their victory at the second test is no fluke.

That’s the West Indies for you. There is no dearth of talents in the country. That’s what was brought home to me this morning while witnessing an amazing innings from this 21-year-old sensation called Evin Lewis. In a match of the Hero CPL T-20, 2017 at Barbados, Lewis even made Chris Gayle look like a novice in taking his team, Patriots, home in just 7 overs against the Tridents. He broke all T-20 records, having scored the fastest 50 in 17 balls and was denied what could have been one of the fastest T-20 hundred ever seen. He was denied this marvellous opportunity to fame by his countryman, Pollard. When Lewis needed just one run to score the second fastest hundred ever (the fastest ever was scored by the man witnessing his exploits from the other end, Chris Gayles). Pollard bowled a no ball much to the dismay of Evin Lewis and the spectators. He had taken just 33 balls for his 97, having hit ten mammoth sixes all over the stadium, but mostly over the Grinidge and Haynes Stand. Such awesome clean power hitting has rarely been seen on a cricket field in a very long time.

Something in me tells me, after watching Lewis’ innings at Barbados that the days of West Indies’ woes are going to be over soon. As long as there emerge players like Evin Lewis, Calypso brand of Cricket will not only rule the world but also go on to entertain people all over and win hearts like in the days of Viv Richard, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshal, Courtney Ambrose, and not to forget some of the great old-timers as well. I should have mentioned another great Brian Lara, but the journey downhill, had already started during his time.