Cricket and rum

[gatomalo]

The sport of cricket may be lost on many of you, but in England some of us are rather keen on it. After all it is our national summer game. During the winter the England cricket team usually plays abroad, and they are currently on an 10 week tour of the Caribbean which will see them play various matches against the West Indies cricket team in different locations around the islands.

I wanted to go to the Caribbean and watch some of the games live but it was way too expensive, so instead I’ll be watching them all on TV at home in London. It is my plan to enjoy lots of new rums to compensate for the fact that I cannot be there in person.

There will be four test matches (which each last 5 days!!) followed by five shorter one-day matches. The first test match was played last week in Jamaica, which was a bit of a disaster for England as we were thumped handsomely, but at least I could enjoy a bottle of the Appleton V/X which I bought especially for the occasion. The second test starts today in Antigua, for which I have bought a bottle of the English Harbour 5 Year Old - a new rum for me! I will be opening it as soon as I get home from work.

The remaining matches, and my choices of rum, are as follows:

3rd Test, Barbados:
Mount Gay XO, Cockspur 12, Foursquare

4th Test, Trinidad:
Angostura 1919 and maybe the 1824 if I can convince myself it’s worth Ј40.

1st & 2nd one–dayers, Guyana:
El Dorado 15 (my gf bought this for me at Christmas and I’ve been waiting for the Guyana matches to open it! I've even surprised myself with my patience!)

3rd & 4th one-dayers, Barbados:
More Mount Gay XO, Cockspur 12, Foursquare and maybe some cocktails made with Mount Gay Eclipse and Cockspur 5 star

5th one-dayer, St.Lucia:
Chairman’s Reserve

Many of these rums are new to me (actually, most have been in my collection for some time but have so far not been opened) so I’m very much looking forward to getting stuck in! I cannot think of a better excuse to open up a load of new rums than for watching live international test cricket from the Caribbean.

Hopefully the English cricket team will pick themselves up from last week's hammering and sort themselves out, but if nothing else I’ll be enjoying lots of fine rum whilst watching the boys toil in the Caribbean sun!

[RonJames]

This sounds like an awesome idea gatomalo. I love how you paired the rum with the match. I've never looked into cricket much but understand it is slightly like baseball and so I can understand the addiction. Im looking forward to my redsox(baseball team) starting up their season in april. Good luck with the matches.

[TheRumelier]

Great idea!!
I hope you didn't drink the English Harbour as quick as the test was over!!
I'm glad I didn't fly down for that. Going down for some test matches is something I've often thought about but unfortunately it is busy season in the rum trade. What could be better than cricket and rum, oh yeah...... girls, rum, reggae and jerk, now that brings back memories of my single days

[rumdog007]

Confession: I am a complete cricket idiot. That established, I went to 3 games one summer while touring the UK and had great times. I have long since decided that I'll watch, live, anyone competing as long as it involves my friends and good drink. That trip, I really found something about cricket which appealed to me. But, I wish that I had known rum back then. A good rum and tonic would have topped off my days better than warm ale which (another confession) I've never, let's say, fully enjoyed. I must say that I really liked afternoon tea, though!

[The Rum Ambassador]

Great idea of matching cricket & rum, and a lot cheaper. You'll be able to enjoy even more rum in the summer over here in England, as Cockspur Rum is one of the sponsors of the England and West Indies Cricket tour. I might even see you at one of the games. Fortunately I've been invited to Guyana to visit the Demerara Distillery and watch the one day match between the West Indies and England. Should be fun sipping rum in the Guyanese sun.

[gatomalo]

Well, three days in and I'm really enjoying the English Harbour 5 year old. I like its peppery nature and understated sweetness. The 2nd test was abandoned because of an unsafe pitch and a 3rd Antigua test was hastily added to the schedule and started yesterday, so this means an extra 2 days of drinking this rum. So this current match will end on Thursday and I can see myself making a serious dent in this bottle.

Originally Posted by RonJames

This sounds like an awesome idea gatomalo. I love how you paired the rum with the match. I've never looked into cricket much but understand it is slightly like baseball and so I can understand the addiction. Im looking forward to my redsox(baseball team) starting up their season in april. Good luck with the matches.

RonJames, yes, there are some similarities between cricket and baseball, but rather than the fact that they are both bat and ball sports, I think the biggest similarity is that both sports are hugely tactical. I watched a fair amount of baseball when I lived in Japan and I find it qutie enjoyable once I began to understand the tactical side of the game.

Originally Posted by TheRumelier

Great idea!!
I hope you didn't drink the English Harbour as quick as the test was over!!
I'm glad I didn't fly down for that. Going down for some test matches is something I've often thought about but unfortunately it is busy season in the rum trade. What could be better than cricket and rum, oh yeah...... girls, rum, reggae and jerk, now that brings back memories of my single days.

TheRumelier, that 2nd test was so disappointing. It was over before I even opened the rum! I agree, there are one or two better things in life than cricket and rum, but not many, and they usually include girls and music!

Originally Posted by rumdog007

Confession: I am a complete cricket idiot. That established, I went to 3 games one summer while touring the UK and had great times. I have long since decided that I'll watch, live, anyone competing as long as it involves my friends and good drink. That trip, I really found something about cricket which appealed to me. But, I wish that I had known rum back then. A good rum and tonic would have topped off my days better than warm ale which (another confession) I've never, let's say, fully enjoyed. I must say that I really liked afternoon tea, though!.

Hey Rumdog, British ale is a much misunderstood drink. I would urge you to give it another go because when it's done properly it one of the great joys of the world. Ale should not be warm, but cool or cellar temperature. If it's too cold then you remove the ability to detect flavour. A well-crafted ale properly stored and served is the beer equivalent of a top-end rum being sipped and savoured. Your cricket experience sounds great! It's one of those sports where you can have a lot of fun without really watching what's going on!

Originally Posted by The Rum Ambassador

Great idea of matching cricket & rum, and a lot cheaper. You'll be able to enjoy even more rum in the summer over here in England, as Cockspur Rum is one of the sponsors of the England and West Indies Cricket tour. I might even see you at one of the games. Fortunately I've been invited to Guyana to visit the Demerara Distillery and watch the one day match between the West Indies and England. Should be fun sipping rum in the Guyanese sun.

Rum Ambassador, you are one lucky man! I'm struggling to contain my jealousy right now!

[gatomalo]

So, the Second Test in Antigua was abandoned after 10 balls; in fact before I had even opened my bottle of English Harbour 5 year old. In spite of the lack of cricket I opened the bottle anyway and I immediately became a fan of its unpretentious spicyness and honest sweetness. An additional Antigua test was hastily arranged starting two days later, and so I ended up having an extra two days to enjoy the English Harbour. By the time the extra test match had finished, I had made my way through a third of the bottle and the rum had really grown on me in a big way. I can consider the Antigua stage of the Caribbean tour as a great success in terms of rum. The cricket was excellent too, even though it finished in a draw.

The Fourth Test (which was originally supposed to be the Third Test before the extra match was added) starts today in Barbados, and fortunately for me I have nothing to do all weekend except watch cricket and drink rum (well, there is also Six Nations Rugby to watch!). I still don't have a bottle of the Mount Gay XO, but I intend to get one instead for the Barbados One Day matches at the end of March. For now I'll be working my way through Mount Gay Eclipse, Cockspur 5 star and Foursquare Spiced, and will round it all off with a new rum for me, the Cockspur 12.

Happy days!

[RonJames]

Im liking your idea more and more gatomalo

[Red Rose]

I think this is an excellent idea!!! I'm looking forward to hearing whether the rum or the cricket match is better

Thinking about how I could do something similar...but I'm struggling with matching a rum to a particular hockey game

Keep us posted on the outcome(s) of the Fourth Test gatamalo...

Cheers!

[gatomalo]

Greetings RonJames and Red Rose!

Well, so far the cricket has been great - apparently! Unfortunately I had to work late last night so I didn't see a single minute of it!

And I'm going out for a drink with my girlfriend tonight so I will most probably miss today's action too, that is unless I can find a pub which is showing it. I'm lucky to have a very understanding girlfriend most of the time, but she may draw the line at watching cricket on our night out!

Either way, when I get home my bottle of Cockspur 12 will definitely be opened, and I've been looking forward to trying this rum for a while.