Let The Games Begin

By Orin Davidson
The anxiety is finally over and the excruciating wait is at end.

The West Indies team is in New York finally to honor an obligation New Yorkers and the entire American fraternity fully deserve.

The West Indies versus United States games are on at Floyd Bennett Park this weekend and both teams have promised the fans the show of their cricket lives.

According to double world record holder Brian Lara, the opportunity to play again in New York is a longing he had within for some time now.

“I have not played cricket there (New York) for sometime, so I personally am looking forward to getting there,” The West Indies captain said. “ It is always good to spread your wings and get across

to a different sort of audience,” he added, confirming the responsibility a player his stature should have for smaller cricket nations.

Fast bowler Ian Bradshaw also displayed a sense of responsibility and while the other team members Fidel Edwards, Dinesh Ramdin, Dwayne Smith and Rawle Lewis all promised exciting displays for the cricket starved fans here on their arrival in the city Thursday night, it all boiled down to these top professionals going the extra mile to give something back to United States cricket.

The fact remains many of the Windian squad utilized portions of their careers playing in New York, thus the gesture is understandable.

It is a pity though that bad -minded detractors here cannot appreciate the actions of the visiting stars.

Despite all the overwhelming evidence found in sections of the media and advertisement in the boroughs, to the contrary, some people still thought it was sensible to spread malicious tales of the games being called off.

Clearly though, those actions backfired as the ringing off the hook of the Cricket International telephone lines this week caused by fans desiring information for the games today and tomorrow, was indicative of an overwhelming response to the biggest weekend of cricket New York will have experienced so far.

Lara, Sarwan, Chanderpaul, Gayle, Ganga, Edwards, Collymore and Bradshaw are some of the bigger names in world cricket and we should all be grateful for their presence in the country.

They could have easily passed up this opportunity, as the stress of a torrid series of Tests and One-day games against India could’ve provided valid excuses. Also the upcoming Standford 20/20 series is an important one for West Indies cricket and all of these players will be looking to cash on the biggest money tournament ever held in the Region.

But this 12-man team of players could not be bothered, they wanted to give something to America’s cricket and they put their best feet forward.

Many hats off to them and the organizers from the Floyd Bennett club, Cricket International and all the groups and individuals who made this weekend’s activities a reality.

Let the games begin.
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