Guyana 'started my love for Caribbean' - James returns for GSL

BBC Radio Solent recently covered Hampshire Hawks in the inaugural Global Super League in Guyana.

It did not go to plan for the Hawks, who finished bottom of the table, winning just one game - against the eventual winners, the Rangpur Riders.

Kevan James is a former Hampshire all-rounder and now BBC Radio Solent's cricket commentator.

He tells of some of his experiences over in South America as he covered the competition with a total prize pot believed to be $1m.

Guyana isn't your first thought as a destination for cricket.

Matches had generally been taking place at 19:00 local time [15:00 GMT] so it was a long time to sit around the hotel waiting for the media bus to take us all to the ground.

The journey could take anything up to 45 minutes to Providence, roughly five miles away.

The traffic in Georgetown is busy all the time.

In the first few days I needed most of that downtime to learn about the teams competing in the tournament.

There were so many unfamiliar players amongst the five club sides from around the world - apart from the Hampshire team, of course, whom I know inside out.

My view before I arrived in Guyana was mainly formed from my visit here nearly 45 years ago.

Back then, I was part of an England Under-19 team that toured the whole Caribbean and stopped off here to play a three-day game against Guyana.

I remember we had to be billeted amongst families of the high commission, we didn't stay in a hotel at the time as it was deemed a little unsafe.

I remember we were told not to go out unless necessary - and then in twos - and certainly not at night.

But Georgetown is changing and it is changing at lightning speed because of oil found offshore a few years ago.

Guyana is set to become the largest per capita oil producer in the world by next year.

Listen to Kevan James speaking with the president of Guyana - Mohamed Irfaan Ali

Everywhere you look there's construction work of some sorts on every block - new houses, house extensions, new industry, new warehouses and new roads.

I got chatting to the one Hampshire supporter who'd made the long trip, Alan Davis and he told me how he'd walked down to the main market and through the botanical gardens and passed the very small zoo.

So when we had a day off from the cricket I met him at his hotel.

We walked through the main market, the main street through the Christmas market which was being erected, and on to an area called the sea wall.

That afternoon I also visited a cricket ground - yes even on my day off - but it is no ordinary ground to me.

Ever since I realised that I would be covering the inaugural Global Super league for BBC Radio Solent I wanted to re-visit the Bourda Oval.

It used to be home to Guyana's national team and also the venue used regularly by the West Indies for Test matches and one-day internationals.

The new Providence stadium replaced it as the premier venue in 2007-08.

Bourda was the ground I played on all those years ago for England Under-19s.

The taxi drew up to the entrance. I got out and walked inside, past the pavilion and out onto the pitch.

In truth, I didn't remember much about the place - only that there was a large green and white painted pavilion on one side.

It was still there although other parts of the ground have had stands either removed or they looked like they could fall down at any moment.

In the three-day game back in January 1980 I didn't do anything special - a couple of wickets and 15 runs in our only innings.

The wicket was good for the batters, that was one takeaway I remembered and they scored over 600 runs for not many wickets.

I walked up the stairs of the pavilion and into the away changing room which looked as though it hadn't changed for many a decade.

I will have changed in there but, again, I can't remember.

Happily the ground is still in use and is the home of the Georgetown club.

Cricket has always been a massive part of my life, now I travel up and down the length and breadth of England commentating on Hampshire matches.

It brings back memories of when I too played for the county well over three decades ago.

Standing in the middle and looking around the Bourda Oval took me back even further to when I was a teenager representing my country on a trip of a lifetime.

That tour kicked off what has become my love for the Caribbean.