Great cricket, lame crowds

FIRST established in the summer of 2003, T20 cricket competition took off in Nottingham, England. Briefly, the idea was, as usual, to bolster seriously-falling revenues at the gates of professional cricket-playing English counties. It was determined that with some necessary rule changes, it would prove attractive enough to bring in crowds that didn’t attend cricket.

Its success, mainly because of the shorter playing hours, rapidly spread through the British Commonwealth and especially India, whose cricket hierarchy took to the idea like a Trini to doubles. Businessmen loved the idea, since they viewed it as a fast-moving game that would take no more than three hours.

And the T20 professional leagues of the world were born. Sponsorship was rapid. Players were invited from all over the world at enormous remunerations, offers they simply could not refuse.

Ultimately, because of the sheer number of cricket grounds in India and its huge population’s love of cricket, T20 was a gigantic success.

The first T20 cricket international of another three-match series between the West Indies and South Africa, took place on August 23 at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba.

It was the epitome of what the inventors of this limited-overs cricket game had in mind for the enjoyment of the spectatorrs.

And herein lies the disappointment. There was a small crowd in attendance in Tarouba. But why?

First of all, let’s factor in the rain.Those suspicious clouds of darkish hue in the wet season can be deceptive. When they releases their moisture content they may bring floods and overflowing rivers. Then again, they can be what is referred to casually and innocently aspassing clousd.

Fortunately, these were passing clouds, but I expect, because of the timing, they might have kept some people away, especially from the open stands.

Secondly, the sad experiences of the vast crowds that found great difficulty in accessing the ground to witness the WI/New Zealand T20 World Cup game, when the disorganised and chaotic confusion caused by poor arrangements for spectators to enter the ground abused numerous guests in our island, plus our very own citizens.

Thirdly, the semi-final between South Africa/Afghanistan that followed not too long afterwards saw a fall in the crowd attendance caused by this infraction of ethical considerations of crowd control in the previous game. And the wicket in this semi-final was also a disaster.

After the first game, a friend from New Zealand, gave away his already-purchased ticket for the semi-final – without any fuss or bother, just mentioning that he had no interest in going through that ordeal again. This was done without public complaint.

However, those circumstances would have robbed T20 cricket fans of witnessing, from a West Indian viewpoint, a superb T20 cricket game, the first of the three-game series. Thus the disappointment. The stands were empty, relatively speaking.

Hence the Trinidad public did not have the opportunity to enjoy the atmosphere at the ground that radiated the excellence of their fellow citizen Nicholas Pooran, revealing his natural ability to drive with alacrity, hook and pull with venom, in addition to forceful cutting. He drove both off the front and back foot and it was a joy to attest to his stroke-play as he flowed to 50 in just 20 balls.

If only he’d be more consistent. He followed up in the second game with just 19.

However, the flowing shots of the diminutive left-handed batsman ought not to take away from the solid start of the opening batsmen, steered by the senior partner, Shai Hope, and relative newcomer Alick Athanaze. The right-hand, left-hand combination of the two batsmen unsettled the inexperienced South African attack of medium-pacers – leftie Nandre Burger, the 18-year-old Kwena Maphaka and Ottneil Baartman.

It was an international game, and just as it is possible for a mature and experienced batsman like Hope or Pooran to take advantage of their opponents’ youthfulness and immaturity, it is possible for them to be deceived by a good delivery. Although there was no experience in the visitors' bowlers, lacking a Kagiso Rabada or a Luigi Ngidi, who was injured, one can only play against the opponent selected.

WI won the first game by eight wickets, then delivered the knockout blow, winning the second game convincingly by 30 runs to win the series. And all this after whipping them earlier this year at Sabina Park, 3-0. It was revenge for the 2024 T20 World Cup Super Eight match!