When we arrived at the Oval, we saw the flag of Suriname flying along with the flag of the Bahamas. I couldn't identify the flag so I had to ask. I hazarded a guess that it was Guyana, but I missed it by one country (those two countries are neighbours and even though they are on the mainland of South America, they are members of the Caribbean Economic Community).
The cricket club is a lovely old building below a 18th century fort that is still standing and it quite a tourist attraction. We sat on a Victorian balcony overlooking the pitch.
The Bahamas team takes to the field after a lunch break. It is the only sport that I know of where they break for lunch.
The Suriname team watches from their tent shielded from the sun as two of their batters are out on the pitch. They were a raucous audience. On the balcony, we sat and drank $3.00 beers which is quite inexpensive for the Bahamas. There is also a who range of English pub food to eat which the Lovely One calls Heart Attack City. The $5.00 cheeseburger at the Cricket Club is still half the price of a burger anywhere else in the Bahamas, except at McDonald's.
A Suriname batsman takes to the field.
A batsman who is out and coming off passes his counterpart who is coming in.
The batsman waits for the bowler (pitcher) as the umpire watches.
Here the Suriname team is scoring runs. At this point the score was 148 to 78 for the Bahamas, and the old gentleman next to me said that it was early and that the outcome of the game was still in doubt.
A batsman shows his form. Just after this, there was a five minute delay where a ball was hit out of the oval, down the hill, across the street and into a parking lot. A fielder had to go and find it while the rest of the men waited until he did. There was no replacement balls like in baseball.
The games go on most of the day. We left after about two and a half hours. If you don't understand the game, this is how it was explained to me:You have two sides, one out in the field and one in.
Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out.
When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out.
When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in.
There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.
When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game
I hope that clears it up for you.
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