2008.01.26
antiguans LOVE their cricket. of antigua's three national heroes, one is an international cricket star. vivan richards is antigua's wayne gretzky. so when the bi-annual Stanford 20/20 Cricket Tournament rolled around, i wanted in.
last night, i experienced my first cricket game with all the hoopla that accompanies a tournament's opening night: fireworks, dancing girls, speeches, international singers and of course... cricket.
its a bit like baseball, 'cept there is only one inning and it scores more like basketball.
the match was 3.5 hours and apparently that's a short game. some last 2 days.
a guy like me (one with an extremely short attention span, and someone who isn't known to be a big jock) needed something to do — in addition to watching the game — at such an event. so last week, i dropped by the Stanford 20/20 tournament office and offered up my services as a photographer, free-of-charge. they loved the price and i was quickly adorned with a MEDIA all-access pass.
it seems a little unfair that a hoser from the great white north, such as myself, gets to see as many cricket matches for free - up close and personal. meanwhile, rabid cricket fans have to pay and don't get preferred seating. but i did and will be providing photography for each night i attend. i honestly think it was the huge lens i bragged about that got me the media pass. if you have a big lens in sports, you're O-K !
click here to view all the galleries from the several matches i photographed.
it was plenty of fun. there was a lot of positive energy. it was made affordable so families could come together. since antiguans drink very little alcohol, everyone was very well behaved. the opening event was very well organized with loads of helpful volunteers. i certainly appreciated having drinks & a meal brought right to me.
my experience at major league sports in canada hadn't always been so positive. often, i seemed to be surrounded by bored, people who forked out too much money & never seemed to paying attention to more than half the game. either talking or drinking or making business deals, it rarely seemed to have any grassroots authencity. and at skydome or air canada centre, i always seemed like i was getting jacked. how much for that tiny slice of pizza??!
i will be back for another game of cricket and to shoot more. combining my camera skills, breaking in my new telephoto lens, learning a new sport and marketing my photography skills all ties up into a nice package.
i should mention, antigua is blessed with two kinds of cricket. there's the game, and those cute little critters that serenade us to sleep every night. if you ever call me on the voip phone after dark, you'll hear them over the phone from the windows. its the most beautful sound in the world.
photos from the top - down.
- the fans from st lucia came out and were very vocal (in a good way). they added plenty of energy to the crowd of 6,000
- sir allen stanford gave his opening speech. he has adopted antigua as his home and invests not only a lot of money but a lot of energy to make antigua a nice place.
- a young antiguan, volunteering as a flag bearer.
- team captains from around the caribbean.