A Sport Where People Stop for Tea

April 3, 2001.

The Hartford Public Library has dedicated the month of April to showcase and highlight various aspects of West Indian culture in relation to the city of Hartford. Titled “Echoes From the Caribbean,” the series of exhibitions, talks and presentations will feature West Indian art, poetry, dance, theater, music food, and the sports of cricket and soccer.

Come Saturday, April 21, under the theme “A Sport Where People Stop for Tea,” the Cricket Hall of Fame and the Library will herald the forthcoming season with a display of photographs, videos and memorabilia of all things’ cricket, some of which are presently displayed at the Hall of Fame’s premises on Main Street.

Attendees will get the opportunity to discover how the virtues of this “gentlemanly” sport have fostered sportsmanship, control, and comraderie in the heart of Hartford’s community. They will also be able to view film highlights from memorial West Indies’ Test series including the Tied Test against Australia and learn about the sport’s history in the region and its relationship to the more popular American sport of baseball. Cricket has been playing in these parts since the early forties. At present the city boasts six active teams.

During the annual West Indian Week in Hartford there will be a big focus on cricket through exhibitions at the historical society and at the Crafters Gallery located on Main Street.