Sea, sun, sand, and partying on the pitch

The answer comes as a surprise. “He had an early shift. He’s gone to the beach, you too go, great for tourists at this hour,” he says as the controversial cricketer gets confused for an ordinary man who spends his after-work hours next to the sea. One wonders if Marlon Samuels’ Nagpur phone bills have been posted to the Caribbean yet, or the assumption about the local disinterest for current cricketers is nothing but a premature generalisation based on insufficient data.

But a bit more of gawking and a sample survey of the newspapers show that the USP of this World Cup isn’t about the famous West Indian brand of cricket, but all about the beaches, nightlife, fine dining, music festivals, rain forests and active volcano. When they do actually talk about cricket, it turns out to be the atmosphere beyond boundary — the Trini posse band, metal drums and those iconic fans like the cross dressing Gravy and Disco Chickie who bring the roof down at tastefully done stands.

The promotional brochures justify that, as there is less about cricketers and more about girls in beachwear on hammocks delicately tied to coconut trees, picture postcard frames of black kids playing beach cricket with a background of super-cyan sea merging into the touched-up magenta skyline and happy families sipping weird coloured drinks from giant glasses with funny little umbrellas dipped in them.

It’s these sights plus the recent disintegration of the global cricket hierarchy post the recent Aussie slump has seen a sudden exodus spurt of optimistic fans from around the world towards the West Indies.

... contd.