Sunday, October 07, 2012

~ Fire never dies ~


The documentary on West Indies cricket is a tribute to all the players & the people of the island nations who went through a lot of struggle to achieve social equality. 


The documentary is called 'Fire in Babylon'. It covers the journey of the West Indies cricket from the 70s till mid 80s. Suffering a ruthless defeat at the hands of Australia in 1975, sent Clive Llyod in search of the fast bowling talent across the Caribbean. Once Mr Lloyd had established the bowling attack - Rowe, Roberts, Garner & Croft. From then on there seemed to be no looking back for the West Indies Cricket team.





Sadly, the visiting Indian team were the ones who faced the mighty fast bowling attack. Indians just could not handle the pace & walked out by surrendering the game. 

England were the next to face the fiery attack with lot of injuries. Tony Greig, the English batsman, had an unforgettable *Grovelling* series :P

When the Windies visited Australians in 1979, they were taunted with visuals from the previous series. Those visuals only strengthened West Indies resolve to achieve victory. Australians for the first time had the taste of fast bowling & bodyline length, 4 years ago. Australians were getting used to the adage "What you give is what you get" :) 

While the W.I were visiting England in 1985, the English press politicised the West Indian bowling attack as 'Terror' who were more interested in hurting players than playing cricket. Despite all the change in rules to resist the West Indian bowling attack. The West Indies 'Black Washed' the English Cricket team 5-0. Could not have got any better than the 'Slaves beating the Masters' at their own game in their own backyard. 

The documentary is an eye-opener on how sports has played a key role in uniting the people of island nations & stand for their rights. They over came the harsh social inequalities of that time - RACISM. As the man says 'Test cricket is the test of character of an individual for 5 days'. The domination of Test Cricket from West Indies is just mind boggling. From Feb 1980 till Feb 1995, for 15 years the West Indies haven't lost a Test Series. Yes, 15 years. No other sporting team in any discipline has ever dominated a sport like that.

After watching the documentary, if I look at the cricket crazy nation in India. We do not come close to what the West Indies team have gone through and what they have achieved. Agreed that the times, tactics & rules have changed when compared to what it was in the 70s and now. The overrated Indian cricketers & frenzied fans in India should watch this documentary.

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