They are the Superstars, indeed. The Superstars who'll be remembered for changing the face of cricket in the Caribbean with their (shock) victory over England in the Stanford Twenty20 Super Series.No die-hard pessimist on either side of the Atlantic would've dared to predict a 10-wicket loss for the Englishmen before the grand finale. But it did happen, on a superb, historic night in Antigua... And how!
Kevin Pietersen's XI would've kept their respective financial advisors, real estate agents and bank mangers on standby. 'Get ready to pocket $ 20 million,' would've been the banner headline of Britain's leading newspapers waiting to go to print. Sir Allen Stanford would've lost all but a few hopes of distributing the prize money amongst West Indian cricketers.
But it did happen, on a superb, historic night in Antigua... And how!
Just before Chris Gayle, the Superstars' skipper, hurled Andrew Flintoff over long-on for a match-winning six, cameras caught a lady in the stands with tears rolling down her cheeks. The next frame showed an emotional Shivnarine Chanderpaul, struggling hard to keep his emotions in check. As the stadium erupted in cheers and players hugged and ran to the middle from the Superstars' dugout, Gayle, always a Mr Cool, plucked the middle stump as a souvenir.
"Cricket in the Caribbean is back. We can beat anyone in the world with this team!", announced the million-dollar man, Sir Stanford.
Meanwhile, in an another corner of the stadium, four legends of West Indian cricket got into a huddle. Sir Vivian Richards, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose and Richie Richardson were celebrating the revival of the game in the Caribbean.
The Englishmen? They were
nowhere to be seen...It did happen, on a superb, historic night in Antigua... And how!
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