Kensington Oval’s pavilion and stands recall legends and their tales

By K.R. Nayar
From Kensington Oval

There are some cricket grounds where the history of the game oozes out. One gets lost in nostalgia while reading the names of legendary players on whom the pavilion and stands are named at the Kensington Oval. These players played a huge role in making cricket so popular here. They were the products of Barbados, and people here proudly say they are all Barbadians. Team India had their pre-match training here before the Super Eight round.

 

Team India's practice session before the Super Eight at the Kensington Oval 

As soon as one enters the ground, the Garfield Sobers pavilion is seen on the right. Tales of his great spells and his maiden Test century - an unbeaten 365 against Pakistan in 1958 - are often spoken about and known to almost all cricket fans. When I see these pavilions, what comes to my mind are a few things many may not know. Sobers was spotted by an inspector while playing street cricket in Bridgetown, and he got him to be a part of their police team. Although Sobers is known as the first to hit six sixes in an over in first-class cricket, very few know he was born with six fingers on both hands, which were removed at the age of 12 and 14, respectively.

 

The pavilion named after the legend Garfield Sobers 

Next to Sobers’s pavilion is the Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith stand.  Both of them were considered as the most fearsome pacers of that era. Griffith is remembered by Indians as the pacer who hit Indian skipper Nari Contractor on the head, leaving him unconscious for six days. It is said that Griffith began as a wicketkeeper, then became an off-spinner, and once experimentally bowled pace, taking seven wickets for one run! He then went on to become an unplayable pacer. I have often narrated this tale to youngsters, urging them to constantly experiment with their cricket skills.

 

Two other legends honoured

Hall also began as a wicketkeeper before becoming a pacer. While he had one of the longest run-ups among the pacers, he also had tremendous stamina. In a 1963 Test match against England, he bowled unchanged for three and a half hours. After cricket, he turned into a politician and became the Minister of Tourism in Barbados. 

Team India training in front of the Hewitt and Inniss stand

There is also a Hewitt and Innis stand, but they were not legendary cricketers. Mitchie Hewitt was a journalist who popularised cricket in this country and was instrumental in the formation of the Barbados Cricket League. Eric Inniss was a committed president of the Barbados Cricket Association while holding the post.

 

Stern warning! 

While waiting for Team India’s practice to start, I overheard an interesting incident about a scribe being asked by a customs officer at the airport whether he had anything to declare so as to qualify to pass through the green channel. The scribe told the officer that he had come for the T20 World Cup, in which an innings is never declared, unlike in Test cricket!

 

Heavy fine for carrying  firearm at Miami airport 

I happened to see some stern instructions and rules in this place. A message in a No Parking zone said, “No parking, not five minutes, not 30 seconds, not at all.” At Miami airport, where there were constant announcements not to carry firearms in the hand baggage, they mentioned the fine too if one did it. It said the potential fine would be $14,950!