Tony Becca
CRICKET AND music are now synonymous around the Caribbean and the fans seem to love it. In fact, music at cricket has become so much a part of the game that it is difficult to image a match, a Test match, without it.
Too much of anything, however, can be annoying, and in some ways music at cricket is becoming, or rather has become annoying - so much so that it runs the risk of defeating its purpose, and especially so at Sabina Park.
According to the founders of the now popular and internationally famous Mound, cricket needed something to attract spectators, and looking at the Mound match after match, there is no question that it has attracted hundreds of people - including a vast majority who probably would not normally attend a cricket match.
The noise, however, is excessive, because of that there are people, admittedly older people, who no longer go to Sabina Park, there are a number of people who are saying they are not going back to Sabina Park, and although the number who go because of the music far outnumber those who have stopped going and who plan to stop going because of the music, something needs to be done about it.
At times it is so loud that it is deafening.
That, however, is only one of the two problems with the Mound. The other problem is that it has now started to affect the game, and something must be done about that.
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Once upon a time, in the early days of the Mound, music was played before the start of play, during the water breaks, during the lunch and tea intervals, and at the close of the day's play.
In those days it hardly ever affected the match.
Today, however, that is not so. Today the DJ is in total control, it is as if it is his show, it is as if he knows nothing about cricket, and the music, loud music, blares from the Mound almost non-stop - including at the end of every over, at the fall of every wicket, and especially so at the fall of a member of the visiting team.
Such noise would not be tolerated during a tennis match, it would not be tolerated during a golf tournament, and remembering that a batsman needs to concentrate, and especially so if he is in trouble, it should not be tolerated in a cricket match more so in a Test match.
On top of that, it is impossible to hear the public address system because of the music from the Mound.
The Mound at Sabina Park provides a lovely atmosphere and it is good for cricket - no question about that.
The people responsible for the Mound should remember, however, that the attraction at Sabina Park is cricket and not music. In fact, the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) should tell them that.
The JCA should tell them to tell the DJ to turn down the volume a bit, to keep an ear open for announcements over the PA system and remembering that a Test match is a match and not a curried-goat affair, that it is the best against the best and that a high level of concentration is necessary in order to perform, to cut the music at least 10 minutes before the start of a day's play. The JCA should also request a break of at least five minutes before the start of each session and the DJ must not play music between overs - probably also not even at the fall of a wicket.
