ABSTRACT
Inevitably, I ended up writing West Indies. Remembering those Ashburton backyard days, decoding James, playing cricket in different places, observing the South Asian passion and working on Bodyline, Caribbean cricket obviously had special meaning. I read all I could, especially Orlando Patterson’s seminal piece, and the sense of significance intensified. Some false starts delayed my physical arrival there, though, and they illustrated some early sports historians’ professional travails.
