If you have been to a cricket match in the Caribbean, you will know what we are talking about.
Rambunctious fans pack the stands, or the banks, in their thousands, swaying to a rhythm of their own, beating drums or blowing horns, and occasionally screaming advices to visiting batsmen and bowlers.
That vibrant atmosphere is unique to West Indies cricket fans and Clive Lloyd, captain of their hugely successful team of the late 1970s and 1980s, described it beautifully in Simon Lister’s Fire in Babylon, a book inspired by the documentary of the same title.
Lloyd recalled leaning on his bat at the non-striker’s end during the Test match at The Oval “and inhaling the exuberant buzz that only a West Indian cricket crowd far from home can create”.
He asked: “How could we not try and do our best?”
Sadly, that question is not being asked often in West Indies cricket these days. Few in the establishment or the team actually seem to care about the fans these days as they — officials and cricketers with bloated egos — fight their battles out in the open.
Fans, who once wrote calypsos eulogising their magnificent cricketers, can only shrug their shoulders as tours are cut short due to player strikes and vengeful officials rule with a heavy hand, clamping down on anyone who refuses to toe their line.
The past 15 years have produced few moments of sunshine and plenty to mourn, and last week, West Indies cricket perhaps hit its lowest ebb by failing to qualify for the 2017 Champions Trophy in England.
This is the first time they will not be a part of an ICC event, but that was not the only shock that the fans of West Indies cricketer suffered last week.
Waiting for the West Indies squad in London to join the team on their way to Sri Lanka, coach Phil Simmons received an email from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chief executive Michael Muirhead, informing him about his immediate suspension for his outburst over team selection.
Simmons was not happy about Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard not being included in the one-day squad for the tour of Sri Lanka and blamed “interference from outside” for their omission.
Now, Simmons has been called by the WICB to “answer breaches of confidentiality” and has also been charged with “bringing the WICB into disrepute”.
Funny, that Simmons alone should be charged with bringing “WICB into disrepute”, when the officials and the players, according to most neutral observers, have been doing just that over the past few years without any restrictions.
Amid these squabbles, nostalgic fans must be wishing for the era of Lloyd and his awe-inspiring “Cavaliers”. But then, the upward journey of that team did not start until they hit rock bottom.
Drubbed 5-1 in the winter of 1975/76 by the Australians, Lloyd arrived in England with all-pace battery and made the home captain Tony Greig pay for his “grovel” remark.
Lloyd celebrated his 32nd birthday during that trip. Jason Holder, the current West Indies captain, is only 23, but many of the Caribbean greats, including Brian Lara and Courtney Walsh, see a bit of Lloyd in the new captain.
The Sri Lanka series probably will show if Holder has that same charisma, but for him to succeed, the factions of West Indies cricket will have to put aside their petty squabbles and support the captain.
They will need to rediscover that pride of the 1970s and, perhaps, watching Fire in Babylon a few times, together, could help.
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