Nursery rhyme on ‘England team is falling down’ and Catch 22 restaurant

From K.R. Nayar
Kensington Oval, Barbados

It is always enjoyable to listen to remarks from the crowd during any match. Leaving the press box and standing for a few minutes near the stands always provides enough material to write. Some fans are very imaginative and churn out hilarious comments and even songs. When England started to lose wickets in quick succession during the semi- final in Guyana, a fan started singing the nursery rhyme "London Bridge is Falling Down," replacing "London Bridge" with "England team."

England skipper Jos Buttler with Indain captain Rohit Sharma 

In Florida, the press box was just behind the spectators’ seats. When spectators jumped out of their seats, it affected our view, but when cricket fans are seen enjoying themselves, one does not feel like asking them to sit down. There are some spectators who keep jumping out of their seats and constantly dancing, making one wonder whether they are jumping jacks. Incidentally, the origin of the term "jumping jack" is attributed to US General John Joseph Pershing, whose nickname was ‘Black Jack.’ He developed this exercise of jumping with legs spread and hands going up together. What is most beautiful to watch is the graceful dance of the West Indies fans to the tune of calypso songs.

Some of the enthusiastic fans who never sits on their seats 

Fans can get very critical when their team loses. They soon become a subject of their jokes. When the England batsmen found it difficult to beat the spin from Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav and couldn't stay long at the crease, they were compared to English breakfast tea bags. “The tea bag stays longer in the cup than them,” remarked one fan. Incidentally, the cup from which I sipped coffee while watching the match had “Cup of Respect” written on it. I did not bother to inspect why it was written so, as I did not want to suspect the excellent coffee.

The Cup of Respect 

The Indian team decided not to practice the day before the final. This World Cup schedule has been so tight that it has been called the “play, travel, play” World Cup. Almost all roads leading to the Kensington Oval are closed for the final, so many buses named “Park & Ride” are being made available for fans to reach the stadium comfortably. The road close to the Kensington Oval is called The Mighty Grynner Highway, named after a famous music artist. Grynner’s calypso songs are so popular that he is regarded as the famous ‘calypsonian’ of this island.

The names of some of the restaurants here are also very interesting. There is a restaurant called Catch 22, and coffee shops named Blush Café and Bliss Café. “So, can one presume that the Catch 22 is over whether to pay or not?, asked a fellow scribe. Someone immediately added, “Since there are Bliss and Blush Cafes, why isn’t there a ‘No-Pay Café’?

The Media center at Kensington Stadium 

It is not only cricketers who are revered and remembered here but journalists and commentators too. The press box at the Kensington Oval is in the Coppin, Cozier, and Short Media Centre. Coppin was the cricket writer for the Barbados Advocate newspaper, Tony Cozier was one of the most renowned cricket writers and commentators, and a tournament is even held in his name here. Peter Short was also a commentator and had captained the Wanderers Cricket Club. He was the president of the Barbados Cricket Association for twenty years and had served as president of the West Indies Cricket Board too. Memories of interacting with Cozier during the Sharjah tournaments came flooding back.