‘The greatest party in sports’ — as the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) bills itself — really is the greatest party in sports. As anyone who has been there can attest, there is no ‘vibesier’ experience than a Jamaica Tallawahs match at Sabina Park. It’s a simply wonderful combination of music, laughter, conversation, and cricket lovely cricket. And kudos to the stadium shuttle bus system that made getting to Sabina such a breeze.

A few nitpickers have complained about the almost constant noise. Yet, the louder the party, the more fun people are having. It was a bit surreal to hear an official announcement to the effect that ‘no vuvuzelas are allowed’, while vendors walked around selling them and thousands were being blown. But TIJ (this is Jamaica), where normal logic seldom applies.

Cricket matches in the West Indies are all about maximum self-expression. And I personally love being part of the horn-blowing unison when Chris Gayle puts the bowlers into the stands. They better not try to take away my vuvuzela!

I’ve been a diehard cricket fan from the days of Sobers and Khanai, and watched in despair as my beloved sport dwindled away almost to the point of death. So the packed stands at Sabina for Tallawah games brings joy to my heart. Moreover, there are as many women and children there as men. A new and wider generation of cricket lovers is being created.

Twenty20 is not Test cricket and will never create such lasting memories as Brian Lara’s 153 not out one-wicket win at Kensington in 1999. Yet you either move with the times or the times leave you behind. In this fast-moving age, even life-long aficionados, like myself, can no longer spare five days to watch a game. My young children would quickly get restless at a Test match, but they had a ball watching the Tallawahs.

That’s why there were less than a thousand spectators watching West Indies versus Australia, and approaching 20,000 for Tallawahs versus Tridents. Those ‘back in my day’ folks who deride the CPL as ‘curry goat cricket’ must realise that it’s not a choice between T20 and Test cricket, but between T20 and no cricket at all.

If the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) does not get its act together, the very term ‘West Indies’ will soon be meaningless to those youngsters who were chanting “Ta la wahs! Ta la wahs!” On Sunday I wore a West Indies jersey to the match and my puzzled daughter asked, “What does West Indies mean daddy?” I explained that it is the best players from CPL countries, playing against places like England and Australia. And it was what real cricket was all about. She nodded, rather unconvinced.

It seemed good-natured fun at the time, and I joined in lustily when the crowd booed Kieron Pollard. But I felt a little ashamed after reading his comments that” for me to know that I am a fellow West Indian playing at Sabina Park and they booing me… I just thought it was not good”. And it makes this fervent West Indian a little concerned that the ‘we are one island family’ ethos may be fading.

My strong recommendation for the WICB is to arrange, as quickly as possible, a T20 international tour — maybe against Pakistan or Sri Lanka — around the region, so all these young CPL fans can imbibe the West Indies spirit. It would be a sad thing indeed if this unique ‘country yet more than a country’ cricketing dynamic, which means so much to so many, were to wither away.

The CPL has some inimitable competitive advantages. Our time zone allows matches to hit Indian, British and North American prime time in one day. And, whatever our other shortcomings, no other people on the planet know how to enjoy themselves like West Indians. Nothing brings out that full-blooded West Indian spirit like cricket, and the glorious exuberance on display must give those watching CPL on TV an “I wish I was there!” sense of envy.

Yet the TV coverage still leaves a bit to be desired. An Indian friend who came to Sabina on the weekend said that, while the IPL seemed more exciting on TV, he found the actual, at the match CPL experience much more enjoyable. IPL spectators were far from the action, leading to a sense of sterile detachment. So he loved the close-up and intimate setting at Sabina which allowed verbal interaction with players. And the crowd was far more engaged and expressive. But very little of what he felt and saw first-hand came across on the CPL games he had watched on screen.

If viewers cannot hear the spectators enjoying themselves and partake vicariously of that carefree West Indian atmosphere, the CPL can never become the smashing worldwide success it has the potential to be.

Right now, the CPL is poised at a delicate stage, almost completely dependent on a few stars. Take out Chris Gayle, Keiron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy, Sunile Narine, Marlon Samuels, and Andre Russell, and the league would collapse tomorrow.

In short, the CPL can only be as strong as West Indies cricket. Hopefully the owners realise this and start to work with the WICB and invest in strengthening the game across the region from the grass roots up. To be sure, this will require a revamp of the WICB, currently one of the world’s worst-run and most dysfunctional entities. But unless we start producing more Gayles and Bravos and Pollards and Narines and Russells, the brilliant future the CPL promises will prove a false dawn.

kob.chang@fontanapharmacy.com