by HAYDN GILL

HE IS ONE the island's most visible and most vocal cricket fans.

Arlington Nurse, more popularly known as "Cy", always commands a gallery of spectators whenever he speaks about cricket.

He does it in such a way that draws you to listen - with plenty of authority and spiced with humour.

"I've never seen anything as bad as this since Pontius Pilate ordered the crucifixion of Jesus Christ," "Cy" shouted one Sunday afternoon at Kensington Oval when a team was bowling woefully and fielding raggedly.

It made everyone laugh. At the same time, his analysis of the game was serious. It is his hallmark. It is what people have come to admire about this ardent supporter of the game.

"Like everything in life, God gives people certain things and I believe God has blessed me with a certain amount of talent as far as humour is concerned," he said.

"It just comes natural. I see it as some form of talent or blessing that God has bestowed on me."

"Cy" attends cricket at virtually every level of the game - from international cricket to regional games to local matches - but he can perhaps be regarded as the face and the voice of the Maple Club.

Almost every Saturday and Sunday, he leaves his St James home to follow the club's first-11 team.

His association with Maple began 45 years ago when his cousin Graydon Nesfield was playing for the Trents club. "Cy" would travel from his Orange Hill, St James home to watch Nesfield play and since then, he has been a loyal supporter of the club.

Local cricket hardly misses "Cy" a weekend, even at a time when the standard of the game is on the decline and spectator numbers are low.

So what brings him to the grounds week-in, week-out?

"It comes from the fundamental love of the game. I am a student of cricket. I'm not only at cricket for what goes on there. I have studied cricket all my life. I have a great passion for cricket," he said.

"Cricket today is not played with that passion because of the great commercialisation of the game. In my era, we played cricket for pride. To hear that you were the best batsman in the village brought a lot of satisfaction.

"I am one from that school, one of the traditionalists, one who enjoys the thought that goes into the game. That is why I am there every Saturday, although I come under some stick from my wife."

Cy is so much of an 'institution' at Maple that whenever he misses a day of local cricket, he is certain to get a phone call the next morning asking why he wasn't there.

In his time at Maple, he rates the club's capture of the Division 1 championship in 1992 as the highlight. He is also happy with the team's performance over the last three years in which they won the inaugural Twenty20 competition last season.

There were occasions, however, when the club had its struggles and Cy was tempted to leave.

"There were times when I was frustrated by the performances. Some of the attitudes of younger people of that era tended not to show the commitment that was needed to pull the club along," he said.

"But I am a true Maple man. Although I say I might leave by mouth, my heart will still be there until I leave the scene. I am able to appreciate the ups- and-downs of life."

"Cy" is so widely respected because of his knowledge of the game that you are prompted to ask him if he ever considered going into the administrative circles.

"On numerous occasions, I was asked to join the BCA. I never pursued it. I never saw the association as something I needed to join because the results never showed me that," he said.

"I am all for things being done, and I always see the BCA as not doing things. I am not pulling down the organisation."

In his younger days, "Cy" played cricket in the Barbados Cricket League and he described himself as a medium-pacer who could bat a little bit.

It was in track and field, however, that he made his mark. As a middle and long distance runner who competed for St Silas Youth group and used to run with George Payne and George Griffith, Cy was good enough to be selected for Barbados.

He took part in a big meet at the National Stadium in 1972 when he faced the 1968 Olympic 10 000 metres champion Naftali Temu. His recollection of the event is amusing.

"When we were warming up, this African guy was sitting with a towel. When we were called to the starting gates, he wished everybody good luck. I think that was the last time I saw him," Cy said.

"He lapped the field. Wayne Harris, a good friend of mine, was in the stands. I remember distinctly his voice saying "Cy, he coming, he coming".

That's typical Cy for you.