Business Travellers

Bajans are unapologetically mad for cricket. Work stops when there is an international match and even when it doesn't actually stop you may find your service person a little distracted especially if Brian Lara is in the middle of a particularly scintillating innings.

Usually when a national cricket match is being played televisions in every available place of business will be tuned to the game and it is not uncommon to see small gatherings with every eye focussed on the screen as a cricket match progresses.

Many North American tourists have difficulty understanding this obsession but a lack of understanding by outsiders is no deterrent for devoted fans. Bajans will happily explain the particulars of our national sport to the unwary but be warned any explanation is likely to leave you more confused than you were in your ignorance.

"You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he is out. When they are all out, the side that's been out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out."

Confused? Don't worry about it, if you ever been to a cricket match you will soon learn it is mostly about the party: the rules are for the umpires and the beer is for the spectators.

One thing you will learn is that Barbados has produced some of the greatest cricketers who have ever played the game. In fact, the one considered the greatest all-round cricketer is Barbadian Sir Garfield Sobers who is one of the ten National Heroes in Barbados and the only one that is still alive.

Other Barbadian names that have been written in the cricket annals include the three Ws of Sir Frank Worrell, Sir Everton Weekes and Sir Clyde Walcott as well as Wes Hall, Keith Boyce, Malcolm Marshall, Desmond Haynes, Gordon Greenidge, and David Allen.

You can catch a game of cricket almost any time, whether it's an international match at the ultra-modern, state-of-the-art Kensington Oval; the local club cricket competition, which is held on Saturdays and Sundays at the numerous playing fields around the island, or a fun game on the beach You are welcome to stop by and share in the fun and refreshments with the locals.