There is a widespread, resigned belief that events in Guyana do not start on time and are not as well organised as they could be.. But that has been proved wrong in the case of the two One Day internationals held at Providence over the weekend.
Trudy and I went both days with friends and had a brilliant time..The crowd were noisy,enthusiastic,friendly and knowledgeable. It was a Guyanese /West Indian crowd with a few Brits!! Again the English were put off travelling to Georgetwon because of its reputation as being unsafe ( certainly not justified considewring that Kingston and Port Of Spain were on the tour itinerary) and beacuse it is pricey to get here..The absent fans missed a treat. We shared good humoured banter with those around us all through the two days...What a great place to watch cricket with not a spare seat to be had!
The organisation was spot on - food and drink reasonably priced, washrooms clean and the stewards friendly and well briefed.
As for the the cricker, well it was enthralling.The Guyanese duo Sarwan and Chandrapaul were brilliant on both days and Chandrapaul's 26 off Harmison (5 fours and a 6) will live long in the memory) as indeed will Harmy's comeback on the Sunday and his brilliant catch denied by a no ball!
The weather wasn't bad either!! but too hot on Sunday to be comfortable.
Clearly it made a difference to the whole ambiance of the day that the Windies won on the Sunday(and should have won on the Friday I think) and it did soften my disappointment at the result but make no mistake...the English team played well and hard against a strongly emerging West Indian team ..Anderson was cracking and Strauss played a fine innings on Sunday without the usual back up from one of the middle order.
Cricket was lovely it truly was..
Later, off the field, Trudy met Chandrapaul (see photo) I passed a few words with Michael Holding and Sir I.T. Botham and we had a pleasant evening...I saw the disappointment on the faces of some of the English team who disappeared off early...
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