Devon Sheldon Smith seemed pretty calm today talking to the media ahead of the start of the second Test match at the Grenada National Cricket Stadium from April 21 – 25. Maybe by tomorrow he will have butterflies when he pictures what it will be like walking out onto the field as the first Grenadian EVER to play Test cricket at that ground. He is coming off a pretty good knock of 65 from the first Test in Antigua which ended in a draw. It was all about Jason Holder then, but Tuesday will be the Devon show.
Hotels are reporting full occupancies….guest houses too. The island has a bit of a buzz. Can you feel it? Grenadians are behind Devon Smith to perform well. He has a century against England already, a few years ago at Sabina Park. I had the pleasure of watching that live too and spoke with spectators and cricket officials about his knock.
The person who will be most proud though is Miss Ann, his mother. Back in 2003, I went to the Smith house in Hermitage St Patrick to interview Devon. He was not there so I chatted with his parents first. Sadly, his father passed away a few years ago. As you will hear in the audio clip, Devon loves his parents, and I definitely got that feeling.
I also have the feeling that we are in for a special treat from Devon Smith in this Test match. Hopefully he will get an extended run so that he can show more of what has made him a top runscorer in the regional competition and make the term ‘regional bully’ disappear.