The current West Indies squad have had to deal with a barrage of criticism from supporters and pundits because they do not perform like their predecessors, but after watching Fire in Babylon, I realise that it is wrong to even draw a comparison.
Fire in Babylon is an insightful and entertaining documentary about the infamous West Indies cricket team. A team so dominant Fox Sports described the 1979 squad as one of the top ten most intimidating teams in the world.
Using a combination of old footage and transparent accounts from many of the legends and cultural figureheads from the region the film paints a clear picture of the challenges those lads faced. Cricket in the 70’s and the 80’s between the West Indies and their opponents was personal - slave against master, former colony against colonizer, former colony against the convicts of the colonizer.
After seeing the film I finally understood why my father would make a beeline for the nearest telly or radio when the Windies had a key match: for the duration of the test match he could live vicariously through the fast bowlers. Having had to deal with discrimination on a daily basis, the sight of wickets - and sometimes batsmen - falling had to have been gratifying for many West Indians during that time.
If you claim to be a West Indies cricket supporter and you haven’t seen Fire in Babylon yet, it's definitely somthing that should go on your to-do list.
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