Fire in Babylon

Fire in Babylon (15) 82 minutes

The West Indian cricket team of 1980- 1995 was undoubtedly the finest of its generation and arguably the greatest in the history of the sport. Ruthless and relentless they batted with power, bowled with venom and fielded with élan. Who can ever forget Gordon Greenidge's undefeated, match-winning double century at Lords or Michael (Whispering Death) Holding's 14 for 149 on a flat wicket at the Oval in 1976?

Fire in Babylon, a rare movie about cricket is the latest in a series of events - including opera, plays and, more recently, concerts- to be screened live, by satellite, directly to the Greenwich Picturehouse. Directed by Stevan Riley and produced by Charles Street and John Battsek, the movie cleverly weaves together interviews with former players, ground staff and local people with archive footage of test matches to relate the tale of the resurgence of West Indian cricket from the late 1970s onwards.

The rebirth of the team has traditionally been attributed to some rather ill- judged, ill-timed and frankly insensitive comments by Tony Greig , the then England captain who, when asked how they might react under pressure, told the interviewer, I” intend to make them grovel". Never can an attempt to get under the opposition's skin have backfired so spectacularly. West Indies won the series 3-0, setting them on a road of almost two decades of cricketing supremacy largely due to a quartet of lightning quick fast bowlers – the four horseman of the apocalypse – (Andy Roberts, Colin Croft, Michael Holding and Joel Garner) and their re-introduction of hostile, short-pitched bowling aimed at the body, not seen since the famous bodyline (England in Australia) series of 1932/1933.

But while Greig's comments undoubtedly played their part, interviews with the players revealed a deeper, darker and more sinister racial motivation. Opener Gordon Greenidge freely admitted to taking his anger at rejection out on the ball hitting with a ferocity hitherto unequalled; Vivien Richards, whose later refusal to tour South Africa (at a personal cost of over USD 1million) earned the personal gratitude of Nelson Mandela himself; and Clive Lloyd, the unassuming captain and natural leader of the group whose quiet demeanour belied a ferocious appetite to win and prove a point. More than thirty years later, their pain is still fresh, their wounds yet to heal, Richards still surprisingly emotional.

Director Riley weaves together his source material with no little skill against a background of music from, perhaps inevitably, Bob Marley and the Wailers and Gregory Issacs and in the process creates a stunning story of true sporting greatness. 9/10. DM

May 2011