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Caribbean Carnival and Cricket
Posted: Wednesday, May 22, 2002
By Peter Ray Blood
Saga Boy Back in Town
Carnival 2003 can expect a much-needed boost in mas when Peter Samuel Jr makes his way back into competition in the King of Carnival arena. The exciting masquerader, who has a record eight national titles to his credit, is also making a return as a bandleader.
ONE THAT GOT AWAY: Amidst lots of controversy at the 1981 King of Carnival final, and after being blocked from parading by rivals, then two-time King of Carnival Peter Samuel Jr presented Peter Minshall's breathtaking "Tiger Tiger Burning Bright" at Pan Trinbago's Champs in Concert the Saturday night after Ash Wednesday.
Samuel's return to competitive mas participation is backed by Mask Productions, producers of the "Oye Oye" section in Barbarossa's 2002 Carnival presentation Untamed.
During his stranglehold on the King of Carnival competition for more than a decade, beginning with his 1976 victory as "The Serpent," designed by Peter Minshall for Stephen Lee Heung's Band of the Year Paradise Lost, Peter captured the coveted title on eight occasions. His winning portrayals included "Devil Ray" (1979); "Midnight Robber" (1980); "Sacred and Profane" (1982); "Mancrab" (1983); "Callaloo Dancing Tic Tac Toe" (1984); "The Merry Monarch" (1987); and "Lord of the Flies" (1989).
After his retirement from portraying king for Peter Minshall presentations, Peter began producing sections for Richard Afong's Barbarossa.
As expected, both Peter and designer Brian MacFarlane are quite tight-lipped about their 2003 presentation, with Peter only willing to disclose that it will be a show-stopper.
Others in the Mask Production crew are Gerry Weekes, Daryl Joseph and Natasha Ramnauth.
When the new band has its launch in July, the venue for the event will most likely be the newest entertainment centre in St James, yet to be named but already swinging.
The venue, at 7 Long Circular Road, home of the defunct Little Lisbon Restaurant, opened its doors last weekend with Friday Frenzy, an afterwork lime.
What a lime this turned out to be, with music by DJ CIN, and among first-night guests Hasely Crawford, Alvin Dorset, Ian Garcia, Ibn de Leon, Newman George, Trevor Craigwell and Patrice Forde.
Folks gave the place a unanimous thumbs-up and concurred that it is a most suitable alternative to Upper Level Club, which closed its doors a few months ago.
Bowling Cricket Crystal Ball
Okay, okay, so the groundsman at the Antigua Recreation ground mashed up my prediction that West Indies would win the current series against India by a 3-1 margin.
Before even getting into how I intend recovering from this, and also covering my bets, I will make another prediction: Tuesday marked the last day that any Test match will ever be played on that particular cricket pitch.
Even prior to the licking West Indies laid on India in Barbados for the third Test, I predicted that, in spite of Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid and Laxman, this touring Indian team is a beatable side, as each of its batsmen is vulnerable to good, sustained fast bowling. Though it is unfortunate that it took the broken jaw of Anil Kumble to prove this point, on a good track every Indian batsman will tumble like ten pins against the attack of Dillon, Collins, Cuffy and Sanford (to a lesser extent).
I thought I'd seen everything in cricket at this level, but there was no way that I could predict that there would only be two innings in Antigua, with 1,142 runs scored, five batsmen hitting centuries, and 18 wickets falling in five days of cricket.
This is why Americans will never be able to appreciate cricket: because they cannot conceive a five-day sporting contest, with these kinds of statistics and no clear winner.
From the perspective of a batting connoisseur, it must have been a near orgasmic experience watching the innings of VVS Laxman, Carl Hooper, Shiv Chanderpaul and wicketkeepers Ridley Jacob and Ajay Ratra, especially Ridley's explosive 118 on Tuesday.
So tomorrow, it's off to Jamaica we go for the fifth and decisive Test. How I wish that we had won that Antigua Test, if only to give young Jamaican pacer Darren Powell a bowl instead of Adam Sanford.
It's not that I am saying that Sanford is not Test material, but I feel that he should have been selected for the West Indies "A" team, despite his wicket haul in this series, like Wavell Hinds, Ryan Hinds and Chris Gayle, if only for some more exposure and to curb his erratic manner at times.
As I am in a predicting mood, while Carl Hooper has impressed, beyond everyone's wildest imagination, and our boy, Mervyn Dillon, has well over a dozen scalps, I predict that Guyanese lefthand batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul will emerge as Man of the Series.
The stealth, patience, tenacity and solid demeanour of this lefthanded Guyanese batsman should give him the nod over the likes of Hooper, Dillon, Ratra and Laxman.
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