Low turnout fails to dampen first Test of summer

The glorious backdrop of the blue Caribbean greeted both spectators and players at Sabina Park as play got under way this week in the first Test Match held at Sabina Park in over two years. The recent fine weather continued here, providing an excellent occasion for cricket. However, attendance at the stadium was low, especially considering the visitors had recently been crowned World Cup Champions. The absence of several leading Indian players, not to mention a certain controversial West Indian batsman, and the staging of the match throughout the working week, meant the stadium was not in danger of selling out, but the atmosphere grew as play wore on and bottles of Red Stripe emptied.

The crowd had been given reason for encouragement though, as Indian wickets had fallen steadily, as West Indies had limited the number one ranked Test team in world cricket to a modest 246 all out, a score that would have been considerably lower but for a spirited partnership between Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh. West Indies were indebted to Adrian Barath, who propped up the innings with an impressive 64, before they stumbled to 173 all out.

There was an air of inevitability around the ground as the West Indies batsmen were dismissed, one by one, with the regulars here at Sabina almost resigned to the impending batting collapse. The majority of the spectators present remember golden ages of West Indian cricket, but there was little golden about this batting display. As each West Indian batsman came and went, attentions turned towards the swimming pool just beyond the boundary rope. Music continued to stream out of the surrounding area as the Kingston traffic crept past alongside the stadium.

The home side are, at the time of writing, not out of this contest, and all of the Caribbean will be hoping for a positive result to truly get this summer of cricket up and running.