Not because it was six years ago but because it succeeded the catamaran trip where according to witnesses, carnage ensued. Thankfully due to Dazzler’s absence the match was mainly amicable.
For those who don’t know, Tape ball is basically cricket without pads. The tennis ball, unsurprisingly, is wrapped in tape making it hard enough to bruise but not hard enough to reconsider one’s dental plan. You might think it is just a mess about in the park but it’s far from it. In the Caribbean there are structured leagues mainly comprising of senior players who maybe otherwise engaged at the weekend playing golf, cutting the grass or sucking Werther’s Originals.
The Wadadadadadadah sports club had five former Barbados first class cricketers on their side so we knew it would be competitive despite their experienced bodies. Nonetheless we were confident that our youthful squad had it in them to give them a good game.
The match was played under lights which had potential for some comedy fielding errors that shall be touched upon later. Batting first we made 145 off our 20 overs. Andy Nixon redeemed himself with a well played fifty and others chipped in around him. I would love to give you more detailed analysis but Captain Cowden has the score sheet and his hotel room is a 23 yard trek away so I’ll just tell you what was memorable. If you really want exact details then you probably shouldn’t be reading articles written by me.
One thing that sticks in my mind is that the smallest tourist (in terms of surface area) seemed to get hit the most. Ray McCavery’s legs were peppered more than a steak sandwich from one of Paul Rankin’s restaurants, much to the delight of the 3,000 who watched on.
The first innings total of 145 didn’t look to be enough after the first few others going for well over 10 an over, however the slow bowling combination of Dawson and Rushe pulled things back with some tidy, if at times tempting, bowling. McKnight was exception with his swinging balls and one purposely bowled down the legside was well received by McLarnon who whipped the bails off quicker than you can say “uncontrollable”. This made Ricky’s earlier dropped catch even more remarkable. The ball lobbed up off the edge and floated to a gloved up Ricky who did a Kamran Akmal and spilt it. However this didn’t prove to be costly and we ran out victors by 27 runs.
After the opposition had got a dressing down from their competitive captain we had the usual post tour-match presentations, although tour manager did forget their plaque and tie, and decided to split and head to the Colonel’s for some chicken. Disappointingly KFC in the Caribbean doesn’t sell gravy and hence many of us decided to retract our emigration requests to the Bajan Government.
Our next fixture is at North Star CC which is fittingly located in the top end of the island (CCJ Harte was my Geography teacher so I can’t be getting that wrong). The guys in 2005 were comprehensively beaten by them so it could prove to be a big test for the Grasshoppers in search of another victory.
