Ed Leahy's World Cup Blog
Friday 23 March Ireland v West Indies
The team were leaving the hotel as I was coming down for breakfast - at least I was on time today!
We got out to the ground an hour before the game started and spoke to a few of the Irish and West Indies fans coming in. The Irish were hoping to put in a decent performance, while the locals thought we were joking when we asked who'd win. They were a confident bunch.
I was out in the sun for 30 minutes before entering Sabina Park. I hadn't put any factor on and I was wearing all black, so the sun baked me and it messed up my day. I should also mention that the black shorts that I was wearing were those sort of three-quarter length Bermuda things that you can only get away with on holidays - so I suppose I deserved all I got.
We started well, despite losing an early wicket, and easily pushed past 50. Jeremy Bray looked amazing once more and Eoin Morgan showed some of the class that we're told he has in abundance.
Niall O'Brien - the Pakistan hero - didn't last long and after that we struggled but still ended up with a half decent total - a bit of late rain meant that we set a revised target of 190.
It was now up to the bowlers.
The West Indies came out blazing with Chris Gayle swinging the bat like a madman. He scored some quick runs but got himself out soon after. A couple more like that and we would have been in with a chance.
It wasn't to be.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul was on fire and eased past 50 in no time. At that stage, the game had finished as a contest and for the first time in two weeks, the party stand stood in silence.
We got a chance to watch a bit of the game with Digicel's top man in Jamaica, David Hall, who had a box high up in the stand. It was great just to get in out of the heat - we ended up watching the end of the India game on the plasma and it was bizarre to see them falling at the first hurdle, just like their neighbours Pakistan.
Back in the hotel, the party was just getting going and word must have gotten around that it was going to be a good one because Dwight Yorke was one of the first to arrive.
He had actually knocked on my hotel door yesterday looking for Brian Lara - one of many bizarre moments on this trip. We asked him what he thought of the Irish cricket team and he was very complimentary, although he let us know that he wasn't supporting Ireland.
'Obviously, I'm up for the West Indies,' he said. 'But don't tell the gaffer.'
Saturday 24 March
The Blarney Army started to pack up and prepared for the exodus from Ocho Rios, Montego Bay and Kingston.
I said g'luck to Ego - who I let take care of the extras on the hotel bill - and made my way down to the lobby for the trip to the airport. Ego's flight to London wasn't until later, while I had to get to Norman Manley by 10.30am.
It wasn't a hard decision to make whether to stay on or not. I'd encountered this scenario before when I was at the airport in Japan not knowing whether to go to Korea or not. That was only one game - which was well worth the trip despite the result - this time, it's another six games (at least) in three new countries.
I travelled on the media bus to the airport and checked in for the flight to Guyana.
The Ireland and West Indies teams sat side by side on the flight and yesterday's hero, Chanderpaul, was in the seat in front of me.
First stop, Antigua. The West Indies team and some match officials got off, which left a lot of free space on the flight - it was mainly Irish now and the players and media chatted freely for the half hour or so before we were airborne again.
Next stop, Trinidad, to pick up the Sri Lanka team. The thing is, they never showed, so another hour on the ground and we were off again for leg three, the short flight to the South American mainland. Guyana was a place that I never thought I'd see on this trip.
We were given a fantastic reception as we entered the airport - about 50 locals were lined up in colourful shirts shouting 'welcome to Guyana'.
Going through customs, it dawned on me that I had just landed in a strange country with no local money and nowhere to stay.
Luckily I wasn't alone and a few phone calls later we were on our way, as part of the police convoy, to the Radisson Hotel - or so we thought. In fact, we ended up at the Raddison Suites - note the spelling.
The place was a kip and the price jumped from $180 to $260 within a minute of entering the lobby.
Wilkinson - the fix-it man, we later found out - turned up as we reluctantly took the key from the thief at the desk, sorry I mean hotel porter. He told us that there was a group of Irish folk down the road and they wanted to meet us.
I was only glad to throw the bags into the room - it looked like a London bed-sit circa 1972 - and jump into Wilkinson's van for our first Georgetown adventure.
Myself, Emmet from the Indo, Ger from the Sunday Tribune and Paul who's also making a documentary over here didn't question Mr Wilkinson as he pointed the way up the wooden stairs into the Dutch Bottle restaurant.
We were welcomed with a big cheer and within a few minutes, the fifteen-year-old rum was being procured from the top shelf.
The Irish in question were the Digicel crowd. Now you may think I'm sponsored by Digicel over here, but I'm not. They're everywhere in the Caribbean and as a result, there's a mob of Irish in every country.
Normally when you land in a strange country, you find the main Irish Bar and talk to the staff to find out the best places to eat and drink.
Well if you're ever in the Caribbean, find the Digicel crowd and you won't be too far from the party.
Mia from Carlow, Michael from Templemore and Aiden from Kilmacud in Dublin were all in flying form. Why wouldn't they be, based in the Caribbean all year round!
We were brought to an open-air club called Palm Court and, despite the long journey, were only too happy to stay out 'til the early hours.
The bed-sit was lurking back down the road.
Ed Leahy is at the Cricket World Cup making a documentary on Irish cricket.
Click here for Ed's sixth blog entry
Click here for Ed's fifth blog entry
Click here for Ed's fourth blog entry
Click here for Ed's third blog entry
