One of Cricket's truly memorable stadia, Sabina Park has been host to centuries, controversy and cacophanous noise over the years it has been a test match host. The old Sabina Park though, is no more. The advent of the ICC World Cup has brought about drastic changes to the stadium that was host to Sobers' test match batting record. It is now renovated and truly ready to host cricket at the highest level.
Some believe the tinkering (seating has been bumped up by 5,000) will ruin the deafening and mind-boggling atmosphere once found there, but those who believe it will be a chastening experience for the ground are outnumbered by those, including me, who are saying 'about bloody time'.
On more than one occasion the ground has been under great suspicion for providing pitches which more resembled martian surfaces than grass, and recently England's game with the West Indies was abandoned because of danger to life and limb. But what will the two teams face when they arrive for the game on tuesday?
The West Indies, regardless of their triumphant opening ceremony, could not come into this game on a lower note. Demolished by India in the recent warm-up games, and rumours of money frustrations still abound, it is going to take something heroic from their ageing Captain to mould this team into something resembling professionals.
With age and talent on his (left-hand) side, Chris Gayle ought to be the performer of the tournament. Brutal but languid power, coupled with an eagle-eye for the ball and some laconic but accurate bowling, means Gayle is the proverbial man for all seasons. The current regulations, although no doubt they will change probably mid-over, play right into the Jamaican's gloves. With the field set in for the first ten overs, he is in a position to play a game within a game, much like Sri Lanka did in 1996.
Gayle cannot carry a team all by himself, and the senior and frankly, superior, players around him must mentally turn up at Sabina if they're to stand any chance of winning. Sarwan, Lara and Chanderpaul have vast experience of the world game and all average 40+ in the shortened version of the game, there is no excuse for these men to fail on home soil. If they can't do it in the West Indies, it might be time to make wholesale changes.
Key man: Jerome Taylor
Frightening speed and hitherto unharnessed accuracy could mean that on a good day, he can give his team mates the chance to get an early bath.
Although I have dismissed the chances of the West Indies, because they are a team lacking in direction at least they haven't got a couple of disgraceful drug cheats ruining the party for everyone else.
The media melee surrounding Asif and Akhtar means that Pakistan are going to be guaranteed a multimedis scrum whereever they set foot, and it must, for the players, be impossible to ignore.
Their case is an example of the total lack of communication and correlation between the confederate cricketing nations and their overseer, the ICC. One moment they are not banned, then banned for life, and then it is reduced and increased incrementally, and finally they are not playing because they conveniently have injuries, most probably to their egos. The ICC members should have stood up off their Saville Row-ed backsides and done something about it before the World Cup started, because to still have the row rumbling on, is for me, showing a great deal of disrespect to the host nations.
Problems aside though and Pakistan have to be seen as one of the top four teams in the competition. With the established 'golden tripod' of Inzamam, Yousuf and Younis, Pakistan have a central core to rival Australia. Kamran Akmal is emerging as a huge talent in the game, and Danish Kaneria's hybrid leg-spin/impish pest routine has accounted for the best in the world.
As long as Politics doesn't spill into the dressing room, Pakistan will surely be a force to be reckoned with this year, and will hope for a repeat of their 1991 success.
Winner: Pakistan by either 80 runs or 5 wickets.
Here is a link:
http://blogs.cricinfo.com/wc_monitor/archives/2007/03/the_opening_ceremony.php
To Andrew Miller's potted history of last night's events. The fact that he uses the word 'Jerk Chicken' makes it worth the read.
But it is very good and he covers everything that happened.
Emotions are running high in the office, so I apologise for the brief tirade in the last post :)
I am also fretting about the fact that the SKY man, as yet, hasn't been to put my dish in. I am buying SKY for the simple reason I want to watch as much cricket as my retinas will take over the course of the nest 2 months... I have rung up at least twice inquiring of the whereabouts of said dish... but to no avail: 'SKY is very popular at the moment Mr Burt, but we'll get it to you as soon as we can...' I threatened to move over to Virgin, but that idea was poohpoohed when the woman at the other end of the line sniggered. Defeated by a girly giggle. I'm less of a man than I thought I was.
But enough babble:- To the Cricket.
Last night, we and the world saw the opening of the greatest show on Earth (until Zippo's comes back into town anyway) and damn it was good fun. But then again it was always going to be the case.
As holders of the official title: 'The most fun nation on the planet', the West Indies produced a sonic and visual feast to savour in Montego Bay. 2,000 dancers, a collection of the greatest cricketers of all time, $2,000,000 spent, one of the most awesome singers in the world Jimmy Cliff (with Shaggy... can't have everything I suppose), and party to savour.
If this infectious start continues, we'll not only have one of the best Cricket World Cup's ever, but one of the first truly memorable sporting events of this new Millenia.
Sitting in my pokey office, my day is currently bearing all the hallmarks of the similarly titles TV show. It is related to the cricket, so bear with it...
I have just had to do a health and safety assessment which encompassed the following:
1) "Stacking chairs - The efficient, correct and quick method."
2) "Fire: What and what not to do" My question about fighting fire, if your name happened to be fire didn't go down as was intended:
"Mr Burt, should that situation ever occur, I would advise that everyone involved got out of the building, and did not persist with tackling, battling or indeed as you say, fighting the fire. That would be insane."
Dan 0, sense of humour failure 1
3) "Coffee, tea and the hazards of workplace related burns." After hearing the horror stories from this talk, I'm very much going to stick the fags, Mountain Dew and Red Bull - None of which seem as harmful as the sinister cuppa that's just been described to me:
"The heat of a boiling cup of tea is more than capable of doing as much damage to your skin as a hot oven or stove..."
In that instance I was transported back to year nine science. How can this be proven or disproven? Already in my mind I was imagining how I might write up the experiment for the H&S man to mark for me... I would be aiming for a B+
Apparatus:
2 x Hands
1 x Body
1 x Oven (Aga will suffice, but middle class status must be confirmed before commencement of experiment)
2 x Leather driving gloves
1 x Tea Bag (optional sugar)
1 x Splash of Milk
3 x Nice Biscuits
1 x Sponge cake
Method:
Get two human hands placing one in a steaming mug of tea and the other on a red hot/nuclear stove.
What I will do:
I will place one of my two hands in a mug of tea, and at the same time, put my remaining hand onto an electric stove. I will be timing the two hands to see how long it takes for them to jump away from each heat source. As a placebo I will take a third hand and plunge it into a Victoria Sponge cake to see how long this third hand lasts (Walnut or Battenburg shall suffice).
What happened:
Hand one lasted 3 seconds in the tea.
Hand two is still attached to the hob and making a funny smell.
Hand three got bitten off by Tracey Wilkins.
Put self on hand donor list at local hospital.
But this all brings me to my point (at last). I work in a mundane, veluxed and white office with little danger of death, apart from impending World War and canteen pies. I sit on my own, I drink 2 cups of tea a day and I go to the toilet perhaps 3 times a day.
I do not have the following happen to me:
There is more chance of dying on a cricket pitch than there ever will be in an office. I have to sign various disclaimers because of a toilet roll, these guys just get on with it, for the love of the game, and the chance to do it to someone else next time around. It seems to me that, in a world where everything is becoming increasingly complex, cricket, for all its failings represents a time when life was life. This exhibition of cricket in the West Indies, should highlight to the World, that sometimes it's important to look beyond form 13.4(a).
Plenty to cover today... Posts will possibly be a mixture of short and long. Pictures will appear, but I need to find time in the day to do the neccessary photoshopping :o)
