“Is Pakistan in the finals boy, not Sri Lanka yet and West Indies well…”, the stout-looking man standing a short distance away from me shouted across the room on Tuesday and I immediately wondered whether live cricket was on the air again. I said it quietly then touched a man sitting next to me to ask whether it was and he stared me in the face as if I were crazy.
I got that look before I thought and simply stared him back. “Girl is wheh you deh! I can’t answer you!” the poor fellow said, raging against me — as if I cared whether he could answer me or not. I did feel sheepish, but I was genuinely concerned for him because he seemed to have been boiling over a random question from a complete stranger.
A few minutes later I got up and walked to a quiet place, but was forced to get up again because two women were a few inches way discussing cricket. Damn cricket! I have been accused of being anti-Caribbean because I am not a cricket fanatic. I actually remember a conversation with a close friend, who is knowledgeable, and he tried to somehow impact upon me that it is in the psyche of every Caribbean person to love and follow cricket. Then I am not Caribbean, but imagine how silly that sounds… “I am not Caribbean because I don’t like cricket”.
Blood relatives have chastised me, and in one unfortunate incident, one of them almost struck me for not feeling passionate about the game. I say in no uncertain terms that my uncle was wise to hold his hand because I am the type who would prosecute family. In fact, I nearly did once but that is another story.
I am just not into cricket. Is that so hard to believe if you are Caribbean? I have always wondered – whoever said that Caribbean people must rally around this sport.
It is as if I swore some allegiance to cricket when I was in my mother’s womb because I did no such thing after exiting. Bite me, but I am practically ignorant of the sport. I know a few names and can safely name the Guyanese players on the West Indies team and yes, I also know a few of the greats. That said I have no idea why this sport should be important to me.
I can imagine a few persons reading this and feeling the urge to convince this cricket hater why Caribbean people need to offer support and be passionate about the game. They can argue that the region has no other sport that brings people together in such numbers and allows us to identify with something which is part of Caribbean culture. I understand that, but why spit venom at me because I do not fall in line?
By the way, the 20/20 version of the game which some people are strongly opposed to did actually catch my attention. I can see myself warming up just a little to a shorter version of the game, but even then I may only watch about twenty minutes of play. Does that make me partly Caribbean? thescene@stabroeknews.com
