Seeds of West Indian cricketing resurgence apparent as Trent Bridge

JAMES COYNE: Pakistan v West Indies at Trent Bridge was the first neutral game of the World Cup - and it could inspire youngsters here too

They streamed down the Bridgford Road – in buses or on foot – and kept singing and banging their drums even while their team were getting an old-fashioned marmalising by West Indian fast bowlers. You can always trust Pakistan fans to support their team through thick and thin – and goodness knows they’ve been through the wringer over the last few years for one reason or another.

Pakistan v West Indies at Trent Bridge was the first neutral game of the World Cup, and the first outside London, so it can provide a better insight of fan tastes across the country. There were some problems with spectators who were collecting tickets on the ground, but hopefully they can be ironed out as the tournament goes on.

And what about West Indies supporters? There were an encouraging number of them dotted around Trent Bridge – and they made one corner of the ground their own as West Indies strode effortlessly towards victory. Trent Bridge, a great venue, has taken a hard line against Billy Cooper and his trumpet in past Test matches, but drummer bands were welcomed with open arms around the bowels of the stadium today.

Andre Russell, in compelling mood in the ICC Mix Zone after his superb spell which sparked Pakistan’s disintegration, captured it like this: “It gives me goosebumps every time I travel and play outside the Caribbean – and you see Trinidad flags, Jamaican flags and the West Indies jerseys in the stands. You get that support. You get the energy to go out there and bowl fast – even when you feel tired, you take a deep breath and go again.”

^{The captain Jason Holder}

It’s a stirring sentiment. And maybe that sensation is even more powerful for seeing those flags dotted around rather than in a crowd dominated by your supporters, like India or Pakistan are accustomed to. Because, if we are being honest, the vast majority of people – especially younger fans – here at Trent Bridge were Pakistan supporters, not West Indian fans.

The numbers of Brits with Caribbean heritage coming to watch cricket has been dipping since at least the heady summer of 2000. That was an occasion euphoric for England, who reclaimed the Wisden Trophy after decades; but not for West Indies, whose fans mainly stayed away. (Chris Gayle was playing back then, which gives you some indication of how long he’s been around.) Mike Marqusee, the late American Marxist historian, reckoned it was down to the end of block-booking of tickets at venues like The Oval.

As for playing numbers now, the ECB say the proportion of black and mixed-race recreational cricketers is down to around 1.5 per cent of the entire number. How we change that is a question that has foxed cricket administrators, cricket-based charities, cricket coaches and amateur sociologists like me who love West Indies cricket for decades now – and are too multifarious for this piece here. But, just on a local level, it is worth noting that West Indian Cavaliers, the successful Caribbean cricket club in Nottingham, have recently merged with Carrington.

One thing is for sure. A West Indies team that wins, and wins with explosive batting and fiery fast bowling, on English shores, with clips popping up on smartphones, cannot hurt. Fan Zones like the one in Nottingham’s Market Square until Sunday are exactly the kind of open on-street engagement that’s needed. On Saturday night it is staying open late until 10pm, meaning it will have to compete with the Champions League final. Good luck there, in a country utterly obsessed with football.

^{Andre Russell celebrates another wicket}

The fans here yesterday watched some of the most explosive cricket you could wish to see in a format damned as too fusty a few years back. The all-round power of Russell, if he goes on now to fulfil his potential – and as an MVP in this year's IPL suggests he might – needs to be harnessed by the ICC and its various partners to its fullest extent.

How amazing that sustained spell of fast bowling – 16 consecutive short balls to start off – must look on the clips on the BBC Sport website and elsewhere which fly across social media. His set-up of poor Haris Sohail, ending in him dabbing fatally behind, takes its place in the list of the most exhilarating spells of West Indies fast bowling. And that’s a long list.

Gayle’s sixes weren’t quite as monstrous as they can be, but he still hit a few today; even when he hurt his back and he hobbled a single across the line like Albert Steptoe it was charming in his vulnerability. Nicholas Pooran finished the match in style. Russell was effortlessly quotable and impressively determined in the post-match chat.

West Indies probably won’t win this World Cup. They're odds-on not to qualify for the semi-finals. There will be some days when they collapse in a heap. That’s not an outdated stereotype about Calypso Cricket: it’s just true.

But they're among the most exciting of the 10 teams. And they’re playing as a team now. It may well be that the appointment in 2015 of Jason Holder as captain, aged just 23, by a selection panel headed by Clive Lloyd, may go down as the pivotal decision in the recent history of West Indies cricket.

West Indies have won three World T20s since 2012 – two by men, one by the women – but the chance to be seen in this World Cup by a British audience outstrips those three events. (Now’s not the time to dwell overlong on the fact that West Indies almost didn’t qualify, thanks to the ICC’s incredibly harsh 10-team structure.)

Today, if harnessed well, could be a step on the road to cricket becoming a sport played substantially by black Britons again. I would pay almost anything to see it happen in my lifetime.

Our coverage of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 is brought to you in association with Cricket 19, the official video game of the Ashes. Order your copy now at Amazon.co.uk