In the first of his Bajun Blogs from the beautiful island of Barbados, Jason Greene takes us down memory lane as he begins to look at cricket on one of the most famous and beautiful islands in the world…
“The tradition of Barbados cricket is comparable to the English drinking tea. It is a lifestyle and certainly a significant element of culture.
I grew up in an era which embraced the concept, ‘when it’s no work it’s play’ and that ‘play’ was a game of cricket, wherever the opportunity arose! I say that with indelible expression.
Recollecting on the many summer vacations from age 6-14, I played cricket with my neighbor as early as 7:30 am in the road. This road separated our domiciles and for hours it was just the two of us. It was exciting until one of us got a ‘rush of blood, pulling a short ball’ which resulted in a broken window with the electric-taped tennis ball, leaving us in a relatively pondering state on how to approach dad with the news.
Now to highlight a few players I admire, where do I begin?
There are so many but from the moment the interest was incited to watch cricket rather than Cartoon Network, I certainly looked forward to watching Sherwin Campbell and his batting skills.
It captivated my attention to see a guy from my country on the television playing the sport that I love. An emblematic moment which a lot of cricket viewers will never forget is when he was up to face Shoaib Akhtar for the first time, getting a bouncer so quickly that Campbell barely saw it. He was belatedly into the hook, but the ball had hurried on so quickly that it took the top edge and the ball soared over third man for six.
I said to myself, “what a shot!” only to find out that he didn’t even see the ball, after having a chat with him!! Talk about dodging bullets!
Cricket in Barbados isn’t cricket without the ‘characters’.
They alone could make you a tough cricketer or you could end up buckling under the chat.
For instance, try batting while going through a tough time, only to hear some guy screaming “he can’t *expletive* bat!” or “you could cut-down and go in”. If you lack confidence, that could crush you unquestionably. But if you’re strong minded, that will be the perfect motive to rise above it all.
So, in my opinion, there is a place for these ‘characters’ around the game, they turn boys into men or boys into babies. Perfect balance!
As a cricketer, it’s a privilege to be a citizen of a land so rich in the tradition and history of the sport.
Additionally, there is the hope and anticipation of one day having a cricket writer share his views on me maintaining the great Barbadian cricket tradition.”
Jason Greene is a cricketer for Wanderers Cricket Club, he has represented the Barbados Select XI and blogs about the game and has a has a strong love for coffee. He says, “Cricket is my passion!”
James Buttler
As the editor of World Cricket Badger he is intent on building the website to give quality coverage of the domestic game around the world.
He is also the presenter of the Cricket Badger Radio Show on Radio Yorkshire every Tuesday evening between 7-9pm UK time.
James was the full-time Media Manager at Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 2007 and 2010.
James is a published author, a writer/video contributor to many cricket publications and a complete cricket badger!
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