Somewhat bleary-eyed we made it to the small George F L Charles Airport, just outside Castries, in the north of the island shortly after 6am to catch the Liat Airlines ATR 72 twin-propellered plane for the 55 minute north to Antigua. Joining us on the flight were Nasser Hussein, Charlotte Edwards, Natalie Germanos, Henry Moeran, and Ebony Rainford-Brent, amongst others, plus the tv production crew complete with cameras and other bulky equipment. If this plane went down then women's cricket coverage could have been set back several decades. Well we'd all like to think so anyway. The painful truth is few people would actually notice. As it was the plane obeyed the laws of physics and stayed in the air, until we touched down safely in Antigua, where it was sunny and hot.
We collected the people carrier at the airport and drove south across the island, following the detailed instructions we'd be given by Debbie to English Harbour and her luxury villa, our home for the next 7 days. Greeted by Charmaine we quickly made ourselves at home, before wandering out to the gorgeous Pigeon Beach and then into town to find somewhere to eat that evening.
On the way we had driven past the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, which looked a little forlorn whilst empty, but will be rocking on Thursday, with the Windies playing in the first game. Should they make it to the final there is likely to be bedlam in the stadium, and tickets for Saturday's game will become a prized commodity.
Tuesday at the villa was a quiet day with frequent heavy rain showers, but hot sunshine in between the showers. It was a pleasant day to wallow by the pool and watch a myriad of cream butterflies float up the hill and over the villa, and the yellow finch (turns out it is actually called a Bananaquit - much more fun)
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| Bananquits feeding (C) Don Miles |
Meanwhile in the harbour the Magnificent Frigatebirds (and they are well-named) splashed violently into the blue water close to the moored boats, fishing, not outside the off-stump, but for real.
Tomorrow the build-up to the semi-finals starts for real with the pre-match Press Conferences at the ground. I am not sure what you can usefully say before a game, apart from we'd really like to win and we'll be trying our hardest to do so. There will be idle speculation about the pitch, balance of the teams, and opposition players who are deemed to be threats. It all means very little. What matters is what happens on the field on Thursday. I am very fortunate to be able to say that I will be there.
Martin Davies
20/11/18
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