Kensington Oval the historic ground

Elmo RODRIGOPULLE

BARBADOS: Arriving at the Grantley Adams Airport in Barbados, we took a taxi from the airport to the hotel and on the way we asked the taxi driver about cricket in Barbados and their famous cricketing sons.

He kept on singing the praises of West India cricket and the sons who made it famous. He rattled off the names of the Ws Frank Worell, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott, Sir Garfield Sobers, Joel Garner, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes and Malcolm Marshall.

During that era the three Ws were tagged the ‘terrible Ws’. All were right handers and they would show no respect to any bowler.

Incidentally Sri Lanka and Australia play the 2007 World Cup final at the Kensington Oval today and not at the 3 Ws Oval which has been named in honour of Worrell, Weekes and Walcott.

The three Ws were later knighted for their excellent contribution to the game. They were all born within a few miles of each other and became a fearsome batting trio for the West Indies.

Later Sobers emerged to take the cricket world by storm, with his allround deeds. Arguably the best allround cricketer to be born, Sobers went to break Sir Leonard Hutton’s individual batting record that stood at 364. Sobers too was knighted.

Malcolm Marshall who bowled with awesome pace played in Sri Lanka when Alvin Kallicharan brought a team out there, and those who watched the match at the SSC would recall how he felled opening batsman Sunil Wettimuny.

Marshall who was feared by all batsmen later died of a terminal illness.

Known locally as the Mecca, The Kensington Oval is steeped in history. Home to the Pickwick Cricket Club since 1882, it has hosted international matches since 1895, including in 1930 the First Test played in the West Indies - a high scoring draw against England.

In preparation for the 2007 World Cup the ground has been completely reconstructed. All but two of the stands have been replaced, while the playing area has been transformed into a perfect circle, with the square shifted 20 metres to the East to accommodate six pitches.

Additional setting and player, media and sponsor facilities have been added, and for the period of the tournament a remarkable 42-row temporary stand, one of the largest of its kind in the world.

Barbados got its name from Portuguese explorer Pedro Campos in 1536, who originally called the island Los Barbados (the bearded ones), a reference to the appearance of the island’s fig trees whose long hanging aerial roots, he thought resembled beards.

The Kensington Oval can accommodate 28,000 spectators.

Kensington Oval, Barbados, Friday