Jamaica
News - Real Estate - Sports
Source: Cricket365, March 11, 2007)
Let The Games Begin!
West Indies captain Brian Lara welcomed the start of the ninth cricket World Cup
by calling for it to be "the greatest sporting festival of all time'' at a
spectacular opening ceremony.
Lara and the legendary Sir Garfield Sobers
officially declared the tournament open at the end of an event which featured
dancing, fireworks and Caribbean music.
The spectacular ceremony began and finished with
a showcase of musical talent featuring reggae legend Jimmy Cliff, Third World,
Shaggy and Sly and Robbie.
After the dance and music extravaganza, the
teams were led out by Mello, the official 2007 World Cup mascot, with Bermuda
winning the award for the most striking outfit by sporting bright red Bermuda
shorts.
The Dutch team were equally flamboyant in their
official team outfits, wearing bright orange jackets, but the Scots sadly
stopped short of wearing kilts for the ceremony.
The biggest cheer of the evening was reserved
for the West Indies team, who were led out by the legendary Clive Lloyd to
enthusiastic applause from the expectant crowd.
Despite the event being staged in the middle of
the night, both Marlon Samuels and Chris Gayle sported sun-glasses, presumably
to shield their eyes from the glare of the fireworks.
But it was Lara who earned one of the biggest
roars of approval from the enthusiastic crowd by saying: "To all the people
of the Caribbean and all our visitors, I hope you witness the greatest sporting
festival of all time.''
Speaking on behalf of all the players from the 16
different nations, Lara also promised to "play to the best of our ability,
respect the laws and spirit of cricket and respect the rules of this tournament
and commit ourselves to the highest standards of fair play and good
sportsmanship.''
The colourful, carnival-type extravaganza at
the newly-built Trelawny Stadium was not as spectacular as the one which
launched the previous World Cup in Cape Town, but a considerable improvement on
the embarrassing ceremony which began the 1999 event at Lord's.
The two hours 45 minutes show, entitled 'West
Indian Energy', also featured local stars, including Trinidad's Machel Montano,
Jamaica's Sean Paul, Alison Hinds - known as the first lady of soca - from
Barbados and St Vincent's Kevin Lyttle.
All nine of the host venues were represented
during the event, while most of the nations competing also contributed to the
showcase, including three girls performing an Irish jig.
In all, more than 2,000 singers, dancers and
performers were involved in the production, which officially opened a tournament
which begins with the first of 51 matches between West Indies and Pakistan and
culminates with the final in Barbados on April 28.
|
