St Kitts leaves a sweet taste in the mouth
Following at the Warner Park Stadium in St Kitts there was a special prize-giving which was rather unexpected.
Denzil L. Douglas, the Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, awarded Herschelle Gibbs and Matthew Hayden citizenship of the islands. He said it was to celebrate their historic achievements in the Group A matches.
against Holland to become the first player to achieve the feat in an international match; and Hayden struck the fastest century in World Cup history off just 66 balls.
It was a very nice gesture from the PM... although a few cynics thought he just fancied the chance to get on the telly and tell the world about the wonders of St Kitts.
But even if that was the case you can understand why he wants to sell his special islands as the country is putting real emphasis on the legacy of the 2007 World Cup.
is best known as a producer of sugar, a tradition dating back to the 17th century. But as you drive around the island you see mass areas of sugar cane un-cultivated. This is because St Kitts has decided to go full out to attract tourists rather than make its money through sugar.
On the south east of the peninsula a massive resort development is planned where there are the island's only white-sand beaches. The four teams staying on the island were housed in a fantastic new hotel with its own golf course. The government has seen the success that St Lucia, Antigua and Barbados have had with tourism and they want a slice of the action.
So how did the World Cup matches do in terms of selling St Kitts to the world? Well the stadium at Warner Park was an impressive development, unrecognisable - I'm told - from the ground England played on a few years ago when a wandering goat stopped play.
Although for most of the matches the ten thousand seats remained mainly unfilled, it's harsh to have a go at the people of St Kitts. The population is only forty thousand so you can hardly expect a quarter of them to turn up to the cricket - especially considering the high ticket prices charged.
Unfortunately most of the matches were rather one-sided, and the thousand or so from the who came to support Scotland will probably take back better memories from nights at the famous than from the three heavy defeats their team suffered on the cricket field.
But the cricketing world will certainly remember the final match in the group. Australia and South Africa showing why they are the two favourites to win the trophy in a gripping run fest which would have been even closer if Shane Watson hadn't produced a sublime piece of fielding to run out AB De Villiers.
But the Aussies were dominant from then on and showed that those results against England and New Zealand last month were probably a blip. Australia look an awesome outfit, particularly with their superman Andrew Symonds making a miracle recovery from injury.
So after a few disappointing matches I leave the sugar island of St Kitts with a sweet taste in the mouth thanks to Saturday's thriller. I go on to the Co-operative Republic of Guyana with lots of good memories of St Kitts. If you do decide to take the advice of Denzil L Douglas and visit St Kitts I'm told you should definitely make time to go on the scenic railway, have a shrimp barbecue at the Sprat Nest Grill and eat the West Indian buffet amongst the sugar cane at the Rawlins plantation.
Or you can just enjoy the sounds of dozens of campanologists ringing the bells of the numerous churches on the island.
I say I'm now off to Guyana - I'm not sure exactly when I get there. The local airline has the habit of changing flights at late notice and my flight has changed three times today already so it could be pot luck. Although I'm in better shape than TMS commentator Neil Manthorp - you may have read in my blog last week about Neil's 46-hour trip from Montego Bay in Jamaica to here in St Kitts via nine islands.
Well it's taking him two days to go from St Kitts to Guyana - a journey that would be a few hours if you were travelling directly. Because of a travel mix-up, Neil is again stopping off on several Caribbean islands en route… so you must tune in at 1400 on Wednesday for coverage of South Africa v Sri Lanka to see if Neil makes it!
