by MIKE WORRELL

IT WAS THE FIRST GAME of the Master's Tournament, and as I entered the room the odours that hit my nose reminded me more of a hospital than a changing room. The menthol instantly cleared up my nasal passage and I knew for sure Master's Cricket had indeed started.

In the room were a number of my Wanderers Cricket Club teammates, some of whom had had creditable performances in their younger years – Lawerance Mapp, Michael Walcott, Ricky Clarke, Denis Osbourne and Winston Chase to name a few.

The players were at various stages of preparation, placing bandages on knees or just 'ole talking with each other. It was, however, Chase who was responsible for the menthol odours. Chase has in his gear bag about six or seven bottles there could be more, of ligament rubs of varying colours and strengths that he uses to "warm up" with before the start of play.

Chase only has to hear a player complain of some injury and quickly the bottles come out. There was a time last year when Hume Yearwood asked Chase for something with which to rub and he gave him glue claiming Hume was falling to pieces and that ligament rub would have been of no use to him. Of course the only Wanderers player who would dare use Chase's rubs is myself, this is because I am well aware of the amounts to apply.

Ligament rub

I have seen the effects of Chase's ligament rubs on individuals who fail to heed the advice of other players, to stay away from these substances. Once a player complained of a "niggle" in the area of his knee, Chase assisted him by applying generous amounts of a dark brown ligament rub.

When the sun started to beat down, the player left the field and took a bath. He later said that the burning he got from the rub was worse that the pain he had in his knee. There is the feeling that Chase's remedies are more suited for a horse than for a human.

Players in the Master's tournament would have been former BCA and BCL players. Some who were good and some not so good in their younger years. Most often at this stage in our lives when we are playing cricket there is conflict between mind and body with respect to what the body would allow the player to do. Sometimes they are diametrically opposed to each other, with the mind wanting to do something and the body saying, "No way".

It is very evident that some players only engage in physical activity on the weekend during these games, as some of them quickly give up chasing balls that merely pass just to the left or right of them.

Master's cricket allows me the opportunity to actively take part in a sport that I love dearly and still enjoy playing. To play against some players who were once very good and who very often still show signs of this brilliance during games. It also allows me to keep in contact with former teammates who, because of our now shifted focus in life, would not be able to be in contact with each other.

Most times we reminisce on how we played and very often make comparisons of the standard of cricket now with that of the past and the many opportunities the youngsters have that they seem to let pass by. Or on how easy it seems for someone to make the Barbados and West Indies teams when it is quite clear that these individuals were not equipped to compete at these levels.

The games can be very competitive and batsmen take revenge on bowlers who once terrorised them. Since these once fearsome bowlers are like the present young fast bowlers, more passion than speed.

I sometimes wonder if the title Masters cricket should really be used because it is quite evident that there are individuals playing who never mastered the game when they were young and still do not show any signs that they will ever be masters of it at this stage of their lives. Maybe these are the ones who participate mainly for the after game activities.

* Mike Worrell is a former Barbados and West Indies "B" Team player.