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Cricket is King in Barbados and everybody has an opinion on the state of the game as well as the latest results. There is lots of village cricket all over the island at weekends. A match here is nothing if not a social occasion. Great Bajan cricketers become icons and several have been knighted for their services to the game and their country: Sir Garfield Sobers (the only living National Hero), Sir Conrad Hunte, Sir Everton Weekes, Sir Clyde Walcott and Sir Frank Worrell. In addition to Test Matches and inter-island competitions there are tournaments for the young and old: the Sir Garfield Sobers International Schools Tournament and the Sir Garfield Sobers Seniors Cricket Festival being two of the most important. Barbados is the premier cricket tour destination in the world and cricket lovers, or indeed fans of great sporting and social occasions, should try to arrange their visit to coincide with a Test Match or a One Day International at the Kensington Oval. Crowd participation is an education to anyone who has never experienced a West Indian audience and the atmosphere is electric. No sedate Sunday afternoon crowd this – the DJ pounds out the music, there is constant whistling, horn-blowing, cheering and banter, public announcements and ribald entertainment from calypsonian, MacFingall, in the Kensington Stand. Everything stops for a Test Match and the offices are empty of workers, who are ’in meetings’ all day. At lunch there are food stalls outside where you can pick up a burger, roti or Bajan stew, buy a T-shirt and a West Indies hat and drink a few Banks beers. The biggest crowds come for the matches against England, with touring teams tagging along, but cricket tourists come from as far as Australia or South Africa. For information about the bigger matches at Kensington Oval or arranging matches against local teams, contact Barbados Cricket Association, T 4361397, http://www.cwcricket.com If you and your local team want to tour Barbados, Sporting Barbados, T 2289122, F 2280243, http://www.sportingbarbados.com will help with discounts and keeping the costs down or to put you in touch with a specialist tour agency.
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