Although Guyana was not playing Trinidad and Tobago Tuesday night September 16, one got the feeling from spectators and Guyanese cricketing organizers and officials that the two teams were clashing, and they were cheering for T&T opponents. It was my assessment, as I told friends and family members, that T&T would win handily, and it did by nine wickets with 2.4 overs to spare. For whatever reason, Guyanese don’t like to see Trinidad wins; there are Trini Guyanese who root for their adopted homeland of T&T. After all, Trinidad was hospitable to them during the difficult years of life in Guyana. Many Guyanese lived and worked in Trinidad with many acquiring citizenship.
Before the game, almost every Guyanese wanted T&T to lose so that Guyana will not have to face that strong team in qualifier 2 should it lose in the first qualifier Wednesday night. Guyanese spectators feel that Antigua and Barbuda will be “easy picking” in the second qualifier on Friday and in the final were it to reach that stage (with Guyana in the final with a Wednesday win). Guyana should sail through Wednesday against St. Lucia because it has a better team and be in the final.
Every boundary and run scored by Antigua & Barbuda Falcons was cheered by the local and Antiguan fans. When Sunil Narine, arguably the best spinner in the game and a record holder for wickets, was clobbered in his final over, there was mass celebration. When Russel went for 19 in his first over, there was jubilation. When the first T&T wicket fell, there was celebration. When Nicholas Pooran came in to bat, fans felt he was bowled first ball, a spectators’ dismissal; the keeper hit the bails when Pooran did not connect for what would have been a six. And when he hit a six barely over the rope, there was cheer all around the stands including in the VIP and VVIP stands that he would be out and Trinidad in trouble; the fielder was unable to hold on to the impossible catch over the boundary. Clearly, fans feared Pooran, and wanted him out quickly. And who won’t? Once he gets going, Pooran can single handedly destroy any attack. He seems to catch form Tuesday night. He is the leading T20 player, an all-round performer –- bats well, among best wicket keeper, among best catcher in outfield and close up to a batsman, an accurate thrower of the bowl to the stumps, and a good spare bowler too (although he does not bowl often). He is among the highest paid in franchise cricket. Sunil Narine is among the highest paid bowlers who also can bat well.
As it turned out, Trinidad & Tobago defeated Antigua and Barbuda in the “Eliminator” Tuesday night. So the loser of Wednesday night will face off T&T; the odds are in favor of T&T to prevail because of the composition of the team. There could be a Guyana-T&T final Sunday evening, a re-run from a couple years ago.
Rivalry between Guyana and T&T was always very intense, not only in sports but in culture (music, cuisine, etc.). There was always respect and camaraderie during the pre-colonial days and up until the 1970s when Guyana’s economy began to deteriorate, and essential items (mostly or all imported foods) were banned. Guyanese faced intense hardship. They went to Trinidad in droves (those who could not make it to North America and Europe and those who could not fit in with life in Suriname or did not want to move to Venezuela and Brazil) for a better living or to engage in huckster trading. Trinis felt superior and treated Guyanese unkindly. From the 1970s onwards, Guyanese felt violated in going to Trinidad to “hustle” for a living; they were often ill-treated at the airport and in urban areas but welcomed in rural areas. Indo-Trinis were hospitable to Indo Guyanese welcoming them in their homes and building friendship. Thousands of Guyanese studied for tertiary education in Trinidad. Guyanese were great, productive workers especially on farms, construction, and in mechanics. Thousands of Guyanese found spouses in Trinidad and acquired nationality; several Guyanese were involved in criminal activities. Tensions and animosity developed over the years with Tinis complaining that Guyanese took away their jobs and their spouses and spaces at markets. Over the last decade, T&T economy was in the doldrum, producing less energy. During this same time, Guyana struck ‘gold’ (oil explored, found, developed, and extracted by Exxon) and is rapidly becoming wealthy. The power equation has changed thanks to the injection of huge investments by Exxon and other oil related companies as well as mining. The table has turned – T&T standard of living has been in decline and that of Guyanese is rapidly improving, and Guyanese no longer feel the need to go to Trinidad (the Miami for Guyanese when it was hard to get visas to North America) for shopping; today Guyanese find themselves in real Miami, Orlando, and NY and Toronto for vacation and shopping. Bitterness remains among manty Guyanese of how they were treated during the 1970s thru the 2010s. And that bitterness has turned into rivalry in cricket and culture. Mashramani is no competition to Trinidad’s world famous Carnival. Exxon has been doing for Guyana what BP, Texaco, and Amoco did for Trinidad. Exxon has transformed Guyana’s economy on the road for second world and even first world status. There is now talk of how Guyana produces many times more barrels of oil (thanks to Exxon accelerated production) than T&T; it won’t be surprising if Trinidad begins purchasing Guyanese oil as happened from the 1960s thru 2017. And Guyanese business community accuse Trinis of using up their foreign exchange to purchase goods overseas and sent to Trinidad. Since the discovery of Guyana’s energy, Trinis have become ‘more humble’ and displaying humility and respect when dealing with Guyanese. In the past, Guyanese dollars were not quite accepted in T&T; now, the TT$ is not accepted in Guyana.
Although there is rivalry in several areas, when the people meet face to face, they get along well especially at fetes as they have similar foods, music, and other aspect of culture. There is no rivalry among Trinis and Guyanese in NYC. They get along well, patronize each other shop, restaurant, bar, mandir, masjid, churches, Yagya, Eid, etc. Musicians (especially Indians) from both countries and Suriname co-operate on chutney tunes; they re-sing each other’s songs. Popular doubles and ‘pepper roti’ have been introduced in Guyana with the former widely sold all over the country. But on the cricket field, the rivalry will be heated if they clash Friday or Sunday.