Fans in the George Headley Stand cheer on the West Indies in their game against Pakistan in Tuesday's Cricket World Cup match at Sabina Park. - Ian Allen

KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC)

It was the day a wave from Mexico swarmed the island of Jamaica!

West Indies fans used the famous Mexican wave to urge on their team and shouted and danced in the stands in celebration of every stroke, every run saved, every wicket taken until victory was theirs.

Just when things seemed to be slipping away from the home team, with Pakistan captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq and the brilliant Mohammad Yousuf staging a steady middle order recovery, the fans got into the action, with the wave.

It started in the temporary south west stand; then it was picked up in the massive George Headley Stand, and on to the mound, then across to the Northern stand. There, some West Indian sports journalists, forgetting for a moment that they had a job to do, abandoned their computer keyboards to give the raised arms salute.

From there, the wave swept across to the exclusive Kingston Cricket Club stand, where even the usually conservative members of this tradition-bound 'preserve' sprang up on cue.

Encouraged by the initial success, the instigators picked it up again and round and round it went four times, the noise level rising with each relay.

Apparently distracted by the crescendo, the usually unflappable Mohammad Yousuf, uncharacteristically, gave it away, caught behind off Dwayne Smith.

As if taking credit for that breakthrough, the fans were unstoppable from then on!

Very exciting

Meanwhile, high up in the southern stand, Captain Horace Burrell, the military man turned football executive, who took Jamaica's Reggae Boyz to the 1998 World Cup in France, could not avoid sharing his joy at the success of the cricketers.

"Very exciting and befitting the opening game of the World Cup, more so one being played in the Caribbean," he beamed.

Urged on to comment further, Captain Burrell declared, cricket 'the most unifying force within the Caribbean - the catalyst for holding the region together - and a game that must continue to be supported for the benefit of the people of the region.

So, the first match won, appropriately, by the inconsistent Windies, and, suddenly, for some delirious fans, even the massive loss last week to India in a practice game in Trelawny was 'part of a well-thought out plan!"

"I never worry 'bout dat man. Dat was part of de strategy. Lose de warm-up match and mek dem get complacent, den show dem we mean business in the real ting!" one fan declared to his friends, almost as if he was the coach.

Half-hour later, four downhearted Pakistan fans, sitting on the sidewalk along Oxford Road in New Kingston, smiled ruefully in response to friendly waves from ecstatic West Indies fans, drunk on the wine of victory.

A great first day of cricket action it was, according to many fans. That too was the sentiment Malcolm Speed, CEO of the International Cricket Council.

"Fantastic first day atmosphere," he said, adding his satisfaction with the upgraded Sabina Park.

As for the state of West Indies cricket, Speed said he was 'very optimistic' about the future of the game in the West Indies, "given what I have observed so far in the World Cup".

He quickly added a cautionary note, however, pointing out that there were still many days to come.