After months of planning we were finally aboard and on the first day of our Caribbean cruise had woken early, our body clocks not yet adjusted to the 4 hour time difference.
We watched the sun rising on the 
horizon from our cabin balcony, as the ship slowly manoeuvred into the port of St Georgeâs, Grenada.
Very excited for the day ahead, as we had tickets for
the England vs West Indies one day international 
cricket match. Sitting eating breakfast aboard ship, looking out over the water we could see the cricket ground within walking distance of the port. The sky was a little grey and a mist covered the hill tops, but this was the Caribbean and the sun would come out shortly.
We had donned our specially printed tshirts
commemorating the occasion and took a bit of a ribbing from the locals as we strolled through the streets to the ground.
Passing street traders, selling 
fruit and spices and fishermen hauling in their nets, onto the beach, hoping for a decent catch. The banter with the locals continued all the way to the ground.
We found our seats in the second row right next to the players pavilion. The teams already warming up in the Caribbean sunshine. Music and laughter filling the stadium. Fabulous atmosphere.
Then the heavens opened and the covers came on, the players dashing back to the pavilion. 
 We were kept entertained by the steel band, playing above us in the stands and chatting to different British characters displaying their banners and flags in anticipation of the great match to come.
The sun came out and dried up
all the rain and the covers came off. Exciting, we were 
going to see some action. The officials pondered on the state of the pitch and the skies above. Then the heavens opened and the covers went back on, the man with the wickets (who came to be known affectionately as Mr Stumpy) trudged back to the pavilion. This continued for the next five hours, till we finally admitted defeat and sadly strolled back to the ship.
Our decision to abandon hope came after chatting to one of the volunteers at the ground. There wasnât going to be any play today. đ˘ She told us they hadnât had rain for 2 mths!! and theyâd been praying for rain as some of the islanders had no drinking water.
Someone had obviously been praying too hard and sadly we were still awaiting our initiation into the Barmy Army.
We returned to our cruise ship very disappointed and became even more so when two days later, at the same ground, England scored a massive 418 runs earning the world record of numbers of 6âs in a One Day International (ODI). And the West Indies scored 389 runs.!
Feeling incredibly dejected, our spirits were lifted as we discovered the ship was running a trip to the cricket at our stop in St Lucia. Having got a refund for the wash out game we decided to purchase tickets for the St Lucia match and were keeping our fingers crossed for a better day.
Despite our T-shirtâs sporting the wrong date and island name, we wore them again and cheerily headed off the ship, more bantering with the locals about the game ahead. The stadium, again was filled with the sound of music, laughter and chatter.
Losing the toss, the Windies put us in to bat first. We 
sat in anticipation as the balls were delivered at lightening speed and watched in dismay as the England batting collapsed to a dismal score of 113. All out in 28 of their allotted 50 overs.
As we had headed to the ground, we had been concerned that we would have to miss the end of the match to get back to our ship before it sailed at 7.30. We neednât have worried. With the embarrassing performance we were easily beaten, and back on ship for afternoon tea by 3.30!
The final round of matches were the T20âs. Three matches where each team faces 20 overs. Towards the end of our cruise we were in St Kitts where one of the matches was being played that evening. Unfortunately we were due back on board half an hour after the match
started. The Captain could not be persuaded to delay sailing, and we could see the ground from the balcony of our cabin. England won the match in style. So close yet so far away.
England went on to win the T20 series 3 matches to nil. The only two bad days of play they had were, the rained off day in Grenada and the battering we watched in St Lucia. We are either Jonahâs or just purely unlucky.
Our only consolation is, that we got to see an England vs The Windies match IN the Caribbean and we met some wonderful people. The St Lucian crowd making us feel incredibly welcome.
A fantastic experience despite the result.