In this week’s edition of In Search of West Indies Cricket Roger Seymour delves into a book on West Indies cricket calypsoes.
“Calypsoes sung at Lord’s,” screamed the headlines of England’s Daily Telegraph and Morning Post newspapers on 30th June, 1950, the day after the West Indies had beaten England by 326 runs in the Second Test at Lord’s to level the series at 1 – 1. Unwittingly, it was the international stage debut of the symbiotic relationship between the two art forms which can be traced back as far as 1926. Over time they have become intricately interwoven like the complex patterns of a Carib hammock.
The two interchangeable phrases ‘Calypso cricketers’ and ‘Calypso cricket’ have become so associated with the Caribbean game that casual observers probably assume they are the team’s official copyrighted slogans. The terms stir the imagination, creating an inseparable amalgam of colour, sound, rhythm and light. Oodles of energy! Laughter! Fun! Excitement. Fast bowlers! Sixes! Fours! Lots of Singing! Wild Celebrations!
