“Barbados v Trinidad & Tobago – Finally, Crab & Callaloo met Flying Fish & Cookoo!”

Feb 16, 2014 Sports

Colin E. H. Croft
So Guyana, expected finalists, but collectively sick as a dog with flu, could not conjure magical Metagee or Pepper-Pot to outplay Barbados, but we still had a good NAGICO 50-overs final, a Caribbean smorgasbord of cricket and traditional delicacies to enhance all cricket connoisseurs and hungry pallets; Trinidad & Tobago v Barbados – Crab & Callaloo v Flying Fish & Cookoo!
Mind you, if some attending yesterday’s final came over to Trinidad from Tobago, they would tell you: “But look at dem Bajan nah man.  Dem duhs tek we flyin’ fish and dat is why dem playin so damn good!”

Jonathan Carter (BCCI), Ronsford Beaton (ICC/Getty Images)

Claims to fishing rights in those very lucrative waters between Tobago and Barbados has been the cause of many a Caricom diplomatic incident and imprisonments, false or otherwise, in the past!
Oldsters would also remind of that great calypso classic by Aldwyn Roberts – Lord Kitchener – about a Bajan and a Trini, dying with starvation, deciding on a cook-up with the Barbadian getting the rice and Trinidadian acquiring the meat, while trying to out-smart each other as the pot neared completion:
“Trini, I’s a born Barbadian, I doan like to fight, but when it comes to de occasion, man, I gun die for muh right!
Yuh put in a six-cent meat-bone, yuh Trinidadian lice.  Before I crush yuh like ice, tek yuh meat out muh rice!”
Sweet kaiso apart, some of the most dynamic cricketers presently in the region participated in Saturday’s final, both teams presenting and representing themselves and respective countries wonderfully well.
Barbados’ original squad contained seven Test players – Sulieman Benn, Tino Best, Kraigg Brathwaite, Fidel Edwards, Kirk Edwards, Jason Holder and Dwayne Smith, before Kirk Edwards was sent home.
Trinidad & Tobago’s international players included Dwayne Bravo, Adrian Barrath, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Denesh Ramdin, Rayad Emrit, Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul and Shannon Gabriel.
Considering these squads, WI Test, ODI and T-20-I teams could be selected from these alone!
In this 2014 competition, Barbados had already beaten T&T in game 4, by 28 runs, so yesterday was a chance for T&T to extract face-saving revenge, or Barbados to ensure continued superiority.
Batsman Jonathan Carter and batting all-rounder Dwayne Smith, on present form, should be selected for every WI ODI in the near future; Smith for T-20’s too; as should bowling all-rounder Dwayne Bravo and batsman Simmons, while Shane Dowrich could pressure veteran wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin.
How especially Carter could not get into any West Indies squad selected to play Ireland is still a mystery.  What more does this guy have to do, fail?
Or is it that we will wait until he has no form at all, as has been the norm, then pick him, as pointed out by former West Indies fast bowler Andy Roberts ages ago, when he became a selector: “Crofty, we select our cricketers two years after they should be selected.  By that time, they may have matured, or, more likely, have become so frustrated that they could not care less.  We must select them when they are ready, not when we are ready to select them!”
That deserves no more comment, but Andy selected Shiv Chanderpaul, out of the blue, in 1994v England!
Jason Holder has such tremendous talent, but would it not have been wonderful to have that young, raw, untried, but magnificent fast bowling find, Guyana’s Ronsford Beaton, as his partner v Ireland?
How could Miguel Cummins feature in a West Indies team when he has not played any real competitive cricket for more than six months, his last real outing being a West Indies “A” team tour six months ago?
How do our selectors know that he is up to the levels required, if he has not played in the NAGICO Super 50?  Also, if he could not make Barbados’ team, how the hell did he manage to make West Indies’ team?
That Fidel Edwards, returning from injury, finally fired against Guyana in the semi-final was a real positive, since West Indies’ fast bowling has been quite soft on recent tours.
The three games against Ireland, with no disrespect, was a great opportunity for West Indies to start budding new cricketers for the future, as many of those selected are now extremely long in the tooth!
Does anyone think that those actually selected, the old guard, to face Ireland, those who, except Chris Gayle, failed us so miserably in India and New Zealand last year, could learn anything at all from the experiences of playing against Ireland?
I do not think so!
Overall, up to the semi-finals, the average of team totals was about 175 runs, so while there was enjoyment for all, reality suggests that batsmen have been way below that par required for real international battle.  Only one innings, Guyana v Ireland, was over 300!
Could playing against Ireland really help the old guard?  Nah!
The team that won yesterday has started 2014 well.  With much cricket to come v Ireland, England, Bangladesh, and others, South Africa at year’s end; new ICC and Big Three allowing; that winning start could conjure up further sumptuous cricket and Caribbean meals too!  Enjoy!