Shame on India!

Well, went to the Australia vs. Ireland match this morning. This morning because the match was over before lunch! The West Indian on the street is really disgusted with the Aussie team because they chose to bat second. The taxi driver said, "that's not cricket man. These guys have paid thousands of pounds to come see their team play and the Aussies should have given them a proper match by batting first. I hate the Aussie's and I hate the fans." He was half kidding of course, one of us here is an Aussie and he knew it!

A video of the most interesting t-shirt in the match. And, for entertainment, a brief view of Calypso Cricket.

India in the World Cup Cricket

So, here I am in Barbados watching the cricket world cup. Today's match was between Bangladesh and England and the match itself was ho hum bad. Sloppy fielding on both sides, and lousy batting from what should be a mature English side. Giving some truth to the movement of the center of cricket to India, Kensington Oval was full of Indian fans. The stadium was a little less than half full and about half the audience was Indian (the other half was English with the occasional Aussie and South African or West Indian dotting the stands). Shouting, playing samba music, singing songs, and cheering an India that is no longer in the World Cup. One section was on its feet throughout the match, Brazilian football like but for much longer than the duration of a football match. Take a look at the following two videos (you have to ignore the lone Australian with his huge flag in the first one!)


It says something about the maturity of India that all these fans showed up for the cup even though India was out of it. And, rather than morosely trying to pick another team or just sit around watching the matches, the Indian contingent (labeled the Bharat Army by the Barbados press) decided to go ahead and have a good time. And, a good time they did have. The action in the stands was much more entertaining than the dismal cricket on display. The English fans may be known as the "Barmy Army," but the real 'Barminess' is in the Bharat Army.