Bridgetown, Barbados: 'Pride and Industry': these are the tenets drilled into every 'Bajan' through their formative years. It is perhaps because of this intense self-esteem and diligence that the island nation threw up cricketers who shone brighter than the brightest of their era. It also gave the game the Kensington Oval where these mythological figures plied their talent.
Worrell, Weekes and Walcott - the Three W's - Sir Garry Sobers, Wes Hall and Malcolm Marshall are but a few who form a nucleus of cricket's solar system. They were great when they were at their best. On their off days, they were just simply superb.
These luminaries were weaned on the game at the Kensington Oval, home to the Pickwick Cricket Club since 1882. They are still idolised there and all over the island.
It is the Barbadian way.
In many ways these cricketers had a symbiotic relationship with the pitch at the Kensington Oval: they lifted the status of the ground as much as the ground elevated theirs.
Cricket pitches have a perplexing way of getting back at you if you forget to pay reverence to them. What is once a players little plot in paradise can become his personal hell on earth.
Fast and bouncy
Various correlations can be drawn: loss of form, lack of technique, diminishing concentration... the list goes on. But few have blamed it on the inconsistent temperament of a pitch towards a batsman.
The pitches at Bridgetown are generally fast and extract bounce, but even this normally favours the batsman. It is a gift of the soil to those who wield the willow.
What was once a pasture on a plantation near the coast has graduated into one of the most impressive grounds in the world. The Kensington Oval was closed at the end of the 2004-05 season in order to get a makeover for the World Cup. The capacity was also raised to a total of 28,000 since it had been given the honour of hosting the World Cup final.
But this is not the only honour it has been accorded. It hosted the first England touring side (1895), against the first combined West Indies side (MCC in 1910-11) and then the West Indies' first Test in 1930. With the World Cup final it is safe to say that it has come full circle.
The spirit of the legendary cricketers and their deeds continue to haunt these grounds. Barely a handful of them are alive today but their stats will never die.
It is against this setting that the World Cup final between Australia and Sri Lanka will be played. It will be an emotionally charged contest capable of lifting the game in the West Indies to newer heights. Such is the power of the Kensington Oval.
One former cricketer watching from the stands will be Wes Hall, a man who struck raw fear into the hearts of batsmen in his days. A walk into the pavilion at Bridgetown will bring you face to face with a picture of Hall at his brutish best. I took my time gazing at it when I was interrupted by a cleaner, "There's people who come into the pavilion who still duck," he said.
I nodded. Cricket still lives here. How, you ask? The answers may be unravelled today.
