Ask around why West Indies cricket has been marooned by their fans in the last couple of decades, overwhelmingly the response is pinned to “It’s not a party anymore”. From my Uber driver who last went to a West Indies game in 2004, or the head rigger at the Kensington Oval who has been employed at the facility about the same time or even Caleb Jones, the Barbados U19 cricketer and an ICC volunteer for the World Cup. While Jones isn’t privy to the atmosphere of the 80s or 90s, he tells me the CPL is more buzzing, “more party” as he points out to a ‘lifeless’ party stand a few overs into the game. “If it were the CPL they’d be dancing non-stop from ball one!”
Shai Hope, one of Barbados’ very own, made sure to bring the ‘party’ back to Kensington Oval on a night when West Indies desperately needed a statement win. A cracking innings in a World Cup game, in his backyard, in front of his people. He smoked one to the roof quite early on in his innings to rouse the temperatures. Hope married his runs to the rhythms of Reggae that blared around the stadium. The vuvuzelas shrieked loudest when Hope pummelled Milind Kumar for three towering sixes in three consecutive deliveries.
“It was an amazing crowd. It’s nice to see everyone came out and support us today. Something that we get in the Caribbean when we’re doing well, we tend to see a lot more supporters out there. So that means we must be doing something right if you’ve got a solid crowd. But yeah, the crowd was rocking today. I thought that the support was amazing. Again, I’m from Barbados so playing in front of this lovely crowd meant a lot more to me. Scoring some runs and winning the game for the team felt even more special so I’m very happy to do that” said Hope after his blitzkrieg of 82 off 39 deliveries.
Hope has often found himself on the sidelines of the West Indies T20 roster, mustering about 30 games in a six and a half years old T20I career. He had to even pledge to come out of his comfort zone and play in the middle order to book his spot to play his first ever T20 World Cup after being shunned for the last two editions. He warmed the bench for the first 3 games of the tournament before coming in the game against Afghanistan. Despite a 17 ball 25 at number 4, he was relegated to drinks duties yet again in the first game of the Super 8s against England. It was only after Brandon King’s unfortunate injury that landed him the opportunity to parachute in the eleven at his desired spot, at the top of the order.
Hope’s emotions were palpable in the press conference after his whirlwind innings. Hope understood the gravity of the situation and appealed to the people in the Caribbean to get behind the men in maroon, something which hasn’t quite happened in terms of atmosphere and game attendances in the previous World Cup games.
“Keep rallying. That’s our motto. We always talk about rallying around the West Indies. That’s exactly what we need to keep doing. The team rallying around each other. The fans need to do the same. We’re out there fighting for each and every one of us. So, you understand the importance and the magnitude of the tournament. We’re playing a home World Cup, something that I’m sure a lot of cricketers over their careers may not get the opportunity to do. We understand the importance of this in particular and we know how much the fans really want us to win so we’re fighting, we’re doing it for them and it’s great to see the support. I hope that it continues for the rest of the tournament” added Hope.
You’d imagine Hope’s thumping six to seal the game would mean the final crescendo of the night. But the drums and calypso never stopped. They took the celebrations to the stadium concourse as the Mac Fingall band kept enthralling a delirious crowd. Hope had stirred a party among the Bajans that would only get louder and bigger as the night went on. “This is it!” says Caleb with a tinkle in his eye as we watch the hysteria unfold. He was sold on the idea of the West Indies. His pre-game pessimism had turned into plausible optimism for the future. “It’s gonna be a long night!”
West Indies’ semifinal chances are far from assured, although the massive net run rate spike means that a win over South Africa would do for the co-hosts. Larger celebrations can wait, as a semifinal birth and eventually title glory is what the team and fans would aspire for. But for now, the party is ‘on’!
