Tomorrow is the much-anticipated start of the Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean. The CWC is the biggest sporting event to be staged in the Caribbean and the region is pulling out all the stops to make it a truly memorable event.
If you know anything about the Caribbean, you’ll know that there’s always a fantastic party atmosphere at international cricket matches. At Sabina Park in Jamaica, you’ll find the Red Stripe mound complete with a pool and sexy girls in bikinis, at the Trini Posse stand in Port of Spain the Carib Beer girls usually provide eye candy while soca stars provide lunchtime entertainment. I’ve been to cricket in St Vincent where there’s an all day barbecue behind the ‘party stand’ and the atmosphere is quite amazing.
Food is at the heart of a good day at the cricket and most people take along heavily baskets and coolers, in fact, the whole tradition of the big basket at cricket is immortalised in the poetry of Paul Keens-Douglas in the character of Tanti Merle, a heavy-set woman who usually took a basket of garguantuan proportions to take to cricket.
The thrill comes at lunchtime when everybody opens their baskets and you smell the pelau from your pot, then you get a whiff of the homemade fried chicken from the lady behind, the bake and shark from fella in front of you and the curry from the people two rows away. It’s enough to make you feel high!
Unfortunately, there’s no space for Tanti Merle and her ilk at the CWC because in the interest of safety, the organisers have implemented rules against large baskets and coolers. It’s now coolbags and small coolers for patrons. Oh, and before I forget, they’ve also banned conch shells and horns.
This isn’t unusual to me, as the same rules apply at cricket grounds the UK but I think it’s a shame because the food and the noise is what makes cricket in the West Indies such a unique occasion.
Here’s what the folks over at Cricketwukup.com think about the situation:
“We all want a safe world cup. But I don’t see how the ban on carrying in picnic hampers, conch shells or whistles to the game makes grounds any safer. What would Tanti Merle say if she couldn’t bring in her wicker basket? How would Blue Food get the crowd going without blowing on his conch shell? Wouldn’t Brian Lara’s majestic strokeplay intimidate opponents less were it not followed by a cacophony of whistles?
Lord’s cricket ground is a wonderful venue, but tourists do not come to watch games in the Caribbean expecting a dignified hush. The carnival atmoshere of West Indies cricket is what makes it unique. I can only hope we do not lose sight of what makes matches here so exciting.”
Not only are baskets and hampers banned, but some friends in Trinidad have told me that they’re being asked to avoid taking stuff in that’ll clash with the sponsors, so if KFC is a sponsor you’re not going to be allowed to carry a bucket of Royal Castle chicken. This is an unfortunate trend that’s been happening at major sporting events in recent years and it seems the CWC will be following the trend.
I hope things revert to normal after the CWC because I can’t imagine cricket in the Oval without baskets of pelau, oil down, fried chicken, bake and shark and big coolers with nuff beers, red Solo and juice!