The Prime Ministers and Chief Ministers of several Caribbean islands were among the thousands who saw the first ball bowled to historically introduced test cricket to St. Kitts and Nevis last week Thursday, after 129 years and 93 previous venues.
According to Stephen Collinson, joyful chorus of jazzy trumpets and a thumping base beat from boom boxes in a boisterous crowd, Indian pace bowler Munaf Patel sent down the historic first ball to West Indies opener Chris Gayle at the new Warner Park Stadium, financed by the Republic of China on Taiwan, as one of the venues for Cricket World Cup 2007.
The OECS Heads of Government, who were meeting here, met for an early morning plenary session at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort before joining their host, Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas in the Prime Minister's box at the new stadium.
Among the leaders were OECS Chairman, Antigua and Barbuda's Prime Minister, Hon. Baldwin Spencer; St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr.
the Hon. Ralph Gonsalves; Prime Minister of Grenada, the Right Hon. Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister of Dominica, the Hon. Roosevelt Skerritt and Chief Minister of Montserrat, Dr. the Hon. Lowell Lewis. Hon. Petrus, Compton, who represented St. Lucia's Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Kenny Anthony.
Also present were the High Commissioners of Canada and the United Kingdom to St. Kitts and Nevis, Their Excellencies Michael Welsh and Brian Taylor respectively. The Federation and the OECS Ambassador to Brussels, His Excellency George Bullen.
The first delivery was worth far more than the leg bye it produced to kick-start the home side's innings - it represented another thread in an economic lifeline for a nation washed up by the retreating tide of global trade.
~~Adz:Right~~"It's really, really special. We have never had a Test Match on St. Kitts before, we have only seen Tests on TV, so it's so special," said local fan Nigel Williams, before hoisting his trumpet to join his calypso band mates to celebrate a straight drive for six from Gayle.
According to Collinson, the 34,000 people who live in the Federation of St.
Kitts and Nevis, in the Leeward Islands, could all fit inside many of the larger world cricket stadia - and even have three seats each at the cavernous Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Their intimate 8,000 seater Warner Park stadium is a bet on their future - based on tourism, after the island's centuries-old sugar cane industry folded after years of savage losses last year.
"This puts us on the international cricket map," said Charles Wilkin, who heads the St Kitts organising committee for the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup, when Australia, South Africa, the Netherlands and Scotland will come to town.
More importantly, this third West Indies v India Test, a one-day international, also against India last month and the World Cup, represent a desperately-needed source of tourism dollars.
The sugar cane industry succumbed to massive losses brought on by tumbling prices, mass production in other nations and the vagaries of global free trade rules which accounted for its preferred access to British markets.
"(Cricket) is critical for our reputation ... we are now moving towards the sports tourism business," said Wilkin.
St. Kitts officials are banking on a stream of supporters from competing nations, who will stay in hotels on St. Kitts and its sister island of Nevis, and pour money into local bars and restaurants during World Cup group matches next year.
They also hope their share of a likely billion or so World Cup television viewers will draw future tourists to the island - which has a six-point tourism plan, to improve infrastructure, hotels, golf courses and attractions.
Warner Park, nestling between craggly Bird Rock, and a couple of well-timed straight drives from the Caribbean Sea, has been completely refashioned from the island's fertile volcanic soil for the World Cup.
~~Adz:Left~~The ground has already hosted a pre-season tour by English county side Lancashire and, post-World Cup, officials have an eye on plucking more Tests and one-day internationals from the crowded international cricket calendar.
Covered stands at each end of the ground and grassy banks square of the wicket will be augmented by temporary stands to boost capacity to 10,000 or so at the World Cup.
The rebuilding effort won an endorsement from West Indies skipper Brian Lara.
"It's a great stadium, I played here something like 17 years ago and what I saw 17 years ago and what I saw for the one day and now for the Test match is a great improvement, it's very special," said Lara.
A victory for the West Indies, which is taking big-time cricket to a clutch of new venues in the Caribbean, would be another shot in the arm for a game which has seen its popularity fall away somewhat from its 1980's heydey.
Squeezed by National Basketball Association (NBA) telecasts from the United States, and now World Cup soccer, cricket no longer has the field to itself in the West Indies - a status not helped by its team's recent struggles.
"I am sure, if the team starts to win people will start coming back to the games, all over the West Indies," said Williams, as he waited to celebrate another boundary on the grassy bank at deep square leg.
