The whoosh! And thwack! Of leather upon willow ‘could very well be a cricket phrase attributed to Somerset Maugham many years ago; a little twee perhaps, but I wonder if he could have envisaged the path that the game - enjoyed by so many English speaking countries and fanatically followed in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – would take early into the new millennium. From the traditional 5 day Test Match format, through the introduction of the One Day/Limited Overs set-up, a la Australian entrepeneur Kerry Packer, arriving at the present day and the emergence of the short - game 20/20 spectacle.

In the Caribbean, the recently concluded R. Allen Stanford 20/20 tournament played in Antigua, has set the region alight with a passion and patriotic fervour not often seen in inter island cricket sorties. For the Antiguan economy, it is becoming an important money-spinner; for West Indian cricket, the vast prizes – a million $US for the winning team, $500,000US for the runner up and financial sweetners for outstanding players through the tournament – will ensure that the very best local athletic talent finds its way back into cricket, rather than following the lucrative soccer and basketball route that has seemed to be the norm of late.

Of course, besides the pay outs, another reason for the huge success of 20/20 – i.e. twenty overs of bowling per team for conclusion – is the brevity of the match. 3 to 4 hours usually secures a result and if this is played in an evening session, our hardy supporter does not have to broker a day off work or miss out on mowing the lawn at the weekend. Most of all, it’s obviously action, action, action from the first ball, so the players and spectators get revved up in tandem – from the TV cameraman’s viewpoint, the national flags of each team often block out the vibrant costumes of avid visitors from exotic locations such as Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad to name a few, but nothing can diminish the party atmosphere that remains long after the final run has been logged.

On the downside, the cricket purist will wax lyrically about the lack of batting strategy employed in a ‘go for everything’ attitude; it’s a very valid point. Some gifted young ones in the sport and on the way up, but not taking onboard the subtleties and nuances of the 5 day match, could find themselves boxed into the ‘slug it and see’ side of the game; notwithstanding, never achieving the Test stamina required for hours at the crease facing fast, medium pace and spin bowling.

From this, it’s quite possible to conclude that international cricket will be made up of Test and One Day teams plus an alternative 20/20 squad that specialize in agility and a quasi baseball mentality. What do you think?

Putting together a blog article that is just a reflection of other peoples thoughts and experiences sometimes doesn't seem to be that great of a task, but when the subject theme/problem is already on your doorstep - or in this case akimbo in your roof - the text essence takes on a more thoughtful and delicate approach.

Yes, we have bats; non paying guests that have a daily and nocturnal social calendar that varies little: Out at 5.45pm Dominican time in at 5.0am, give or take a flutter. As yet, there is no unpleasant odour or undue noise to cope with, but expert battlers (my term), suggest that although they do not pose a health hazard or are dangerous to humans in any way, they should be removed humanely and safely using environmentally sound methods.

Whilst mulling over this for a while, I decided to do a little research to establish easily understandable pros. & cons for this complex radar-borne creature:

Most people do not recognize how important bats are to a balanced ecology - they control many night flying insects including many crop and garden eating pests as well as mosquitoes. They also pollinate hundreds on native plants such as calabash, cactus, vine pear, neem and many others. Bats also disburse seeds throughout the islands, helping to keep our region healthy and diverse - a quote from the Cayman Wildlife Connection, read more at www.caymanwildlife.org/wildlife.html#bats On the other side of the coin it appears that the only downside in sharing space with our furry flyers is of a cosmetic or smelly nature. With this in mind, knowledgeable battlers have embarked on numerous projects involving purpose built bat houses that create an environment that is totally bat-friendly and away from the main human living area.

An interesting fact: Bats have to find new roosts on their own. At this time, there are no proven lures or attractants that can be inserted or applied to a bat house. Bats will investigate new roosting opportunities whilst foraging at night. - a quote from Bat House Research Project, you can check more at www.batcon.org/bhra/attracting.html

From a potential property buyers point of view - discovering that his or her new home in the Caribbean contains a number of friendly gatecrashers - it would be wise to understand the methodology of removal and containment of the above, rather than to accept the squatters rights of a misunderstood night-time partygoer that can see you many seconds before you can see it.

As for me, until the pungent aroma hits me it can stay!