In a story titled "Bourda" (Going Home and Other Tales from Guyana, 2002), Deryck Bernard gives an engaging account of a group of men going to a cricket match at Bourda, which celebrates the male-bonding ritual of the experience.
Read "Bourda" to see what convinced a man's cricket-going friends and admirers that he had his womenfolk under control.
Want to know why some cricket fans would end up broke and unable to afford the train (or bus) trip back home?
And what about the hours spent on queue? Wouldn't you like to know what really initiated some of those fights?
Then there was the sharing of food and alcohol that strengthened the bonding experience, or in some cases caused yet another fight. (You have to see what happens when "Muddy" passes around a bottle of scotch he had brought to impress the gang.)
Northwest, Flagstaff, Pavilion mean anything to you? If not, read and find out. If so, read and reminisce.
Were you that guy who loudly backed somebody from the opposing team? Or, did you ever suggest (loudly) that a local cricketer should be replaced by another from Barbados, for instance? If you were never so boldly unpatriotic, chances are you knew someone who was. Read and reminisce.
Question: What do you think would make avid male cricket fans (present at the game) miss the subtleties of a masterly display by Guyanese spin bowler Lance Gibbs? Read "Bourda" and find out.
A little side note...
My mother and aunt went to cricket at Bourda sometimes. I wonder what their and other women's experiences at Bourda were like.
