Ground rules upset West Indies fans
As far as the organisers were concerned, yesterday was day one of the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
After years of planning - this was it. They may only have been warm-up matches, but the World Cup machine is grinding into action.
I am in where in two months' time the tournament will reach its conclusion, with the final at the newly refurbished Kensington Oval.
Though to be honest when I went to the ground earlier to collect my accreditation there still seemed to be quite a lot of work still to be done to get the famous stadium ready for the Super Eight matches in a few weeks' time.
There was plenty of scaffolding on show but I was told everyone was very confident it will be ready on time!
My task this week is to be with the Scotland squad who probably won't be returning to Barbados for the Super Eights and certainly not for the final. Scotland's opening warm-up match was against many people's dark horses for the trophy, .
But to be honest the talk amongst the Bajans and other visiting supporters were less about how Dougie Brown might cope bowling to Sanath Jayasuriya and more about why they had their bottle of water confiscated at the gate.
Reporters and supporters following major sporting competitions are getting increasingly used to this kind of nonsense. But for many of the Bajans it's a symbol of their fears about this World Cup.
Winston, the taxi driver who dropped me off this morning, said that he and his mates weren't going to the World Cup matches partly because of the expensive ticket prices... but mostly because they didn't like the excessive rules and regulations they have to adhere to in the grounds.
His attitude was that the ICC had given the West Indies the World Cup because they wanted to celebrate the experience of watching cricket in the Caribbean - yet now the tournament is being held here the authorities are trying to stop West Indian supporters enjoying cricket the way they like to.
For example, smoking is banned at the grounds, as are the conch shells which for many are the soundtrack to watching cricket in this part of the world.
Most ludicrous is the ban on anyone taking plastic bottles of water into the ground. The official reason given is that they could be used as a "weapon"! Not only is that explanation absurd; it's even more baffling when you consider that you can happilly buy a bottle of water inside the ground.
We are not stupid - the reason you can't take water in is so that the grounds can make money and the ICC can continue to defend itself against threats of ambush marketing.
Security is already very tight. When I arrived at the picturesque ground today it took me over 15 minutes to have my bags searched. I don't mind at all and the staff were exceptionally pleasant about it. The staff, many of whom are volunteers, couldn't do enough to help all day and they are certainly doing their best to make this as friendly a world cup as possible.
To be fair to the ICC, despite the tight security, they are attempting to make it feel like a traditional West Indian cricket experience. There was a "party stand" which will be a feature at many grounds. Music was played at regular intervals by the on-ground DJ and although it felt perhaps more corporate than the famous discos at other grounds around the Caribbean, at least the thought was there.
The ICC has a really difficult balancing act at this World Cup - they need to make safety and security top priority. They have commercial and marketing considerations. But they also have to embrace the relaxed nature of watching cricket in the West Indies.
If they don't get it right - there is no point in the tournament being played here.
