De Test Match or de battleship

Success has a million fathers and failure is an orphan, and foh failing, s/he will likely get an evil stepmother. Is years we been living full time in a Cricket Orphanage wid our West Indies cricketers. But Choose-day, Step-Mother England was shaken from its Root. After demolishing de West Indies batting in de Edgbaston First Test in three days, way 19 WI wickets fell in one day, cricketing pundits made mock and muck ah de West Indies, suggesting we had hit rock bottom, dat test cricket should be reduced from five days to four. Now bookers tip West Indies chances 8-1 to win de series. And foh dis Summer dis is only de second Test to go de full five days.

Don’t flatter we-self, dat Headingly’s Teat was supposed to be part two of de inevitable three match White Wash. So basically Thursday was only academic interest foh star-bowler James Anderson, whose Test Wicket tally was five short of 500. He must humble till de next test at Lords.

Was ah great Test Match foh West Indies. On dat same Headingly Test grounds, foh de last 118 years wid over 533 First Class Matches played, Shai Hope is de first batsman to score ah century in both innings.

Nah forget de ole tale dat ‘England prefers to lose ah battle ship dan lose ah Test Match at Lords’. But Lie-Za could be correct, England can’t get over dat shocking defeat so quickly. I am not carried away wid one Test Match. But is like getting Zero in Maths foh de whole year and suddenly yuh do ah Test and get 10 out ah 10. Lie-za say de Lord sent Angel Gabriel to Root-up England and give de team Hope pon top ah Hope. “He will do it again!”

NOAH AND AL GORE

Ah looking at TV wid de flooding in Houston Texas, watching down to de sick and de disabled struggling thru waters up to dey chest. Rescue teams using speed boats up and down streets now turn into rivers. Ah catchment overflow and water level rose and deposited ah tree on top ah bridge 45 feet high, “mudder wuk!” De only happy looking lot was ah flock ah ducks in dey element, paddling cross stream enjoying de excess feed. Straight away, two persons came to mind, firstly, de ole story of de prophet Noah, whose story is in de Book of Genesis. Man had become Disobedient to God and Wicked to demselves. When God saw how far wickedness had gone Viral, He decided to wash mankind off de face of de earth. Dat story is in de Book of Genesis, chapter 6-9 waiting foh all to read.

And 4000 years after Noah, we hearing from former US Vice President Al Gore, by no means ah Prophet, but ah strong voice in de wilderness highlighting de reality and consequences of Climate Change.

Al Gore’s argument is dat de flooding we are experiencing today is as ah result of years and years of negligence by our ancestors, deliberate or in ignorance. De damage is beyond repair, our best Hope is not to behave Ignorant and Disobedient again, put ah stopping to de exploitation and destruction of de environment e.g. de rivers, de ocean, de forests, de Volcanoes. Look to de wind and de sun foh alternative and cleaner “N-ah-G.” Countries wid dey billions ah dollars could pour it into Relief, den wait until de next disaster and de next. SVG is not exempt. So, we must do our bit and inculcate healthy environmental practices in our children. And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.