There weren't nothin' Calypso about this Cricket

I had the most amazing day on Monday.  I got myself down to the Curzon Cinema, Soho and bought a ticket to a screening of Fire in Babylon - a documentary chronicling the sensational history of West Indian cricket.  Now I'm a sucker for a sports doc, and am fairly easy to inspire, but seeing what this incredible team had to endure really was something else.

I was amazed to learn that up until as late as 1960, the team were obligated to have a white captain in order to play.  Obviously, we now know that injustice only served to galvanise the players.  In the film, Viv Richards says that '[his] bat would have been [his] sword at 'that' time'.  In wagering war on racism on the pitch, what these men did was prove that sport can create meaningful change.  After all, it was not long before Kerry Packer came along and assisted the boys in obtaining equal pay.  They reclaimed their integrity by dominating a sport invented by their oppressors, and they instilled confidence in their nation in the process.  Who said sport's not political?

Undoubtedly, the likes of Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Joel Garner, Colin Croft, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding (and their peers) changed the shape of professional cricket.  At a time when they faced full on prejudice from players, spectators and several institutions, it's a wonder they managed to focus on anything other than boxing the heads of the idiots hurling abuse.

As a team they also embodied what was described as the extra dimension of cricket.  Yes, it's about hitting the ball and getting runs or taking wickets, but in the 80's there was also the real possibility that you could get hurt!  It was true warfare and for 15 years these revolutionaries remained UNDEFEATED.  That's right, they never lost a game.  Incredible.  Their achievement has not been met by any other team in any other sport.  This was the stuff of legends.

I highly recommend that you watch this film.  Immediately, if not, sooner.