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Between 13 March and 28 April, 2007, members of the family of English-speaking Caribbean nations will host the third largest spectacle in international sport: the International Cricket Council's Cricket World Cup.Ìý

Significantly, this landmark event in the evolution of Caribbean society will coincide with the bi-centenary of the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.Ìý

The juxtaposition of Caribbean people's delight over the hosting of the Cricket World Cup and difficulties we experience as we come to terms with the legacies of slavery - as evident in some activists' insistence that Britain and other beneficiaries of the slave trade now pay reparations, and anger at the prominence given to William Wilberforce and other white abolitionists - throws up a number of provocative questions.

Why does this game, which is arguably the quintessential expression of British imperialism and elitism, enjoy the privileged status that it does among the largely down-to-earth labourite masses and political directorate of the Caribbean region?

Is not soccer, the people's game, the game of the masses more predictably the favourite sport of socialism-preaching Caribbean people?Ìý

Why, is the game of the past 'enslaver', oppressor and coloniser embraced with fanatical fervour and passionately accorded the pride of place it enjoys?

Some years ago, probably the late 1990s, I attended a conference on cricket.Ìý A motion was tabled to have cricket designated the highest expression of Caribbean culture, or some such silliness!

Much as I love cricket myself, I thought this too hasty and simplistic a judgement.Ìý

Why not calypso, reggae, our oral traditions, literary arts or some other more indigenously African or East Indian expression of Caribbean identity?

You would think a group made up largely of academics might at least consider that aspect of Caribbean culture for such a privileged role - 'the most excellent expression of Caribbean identity', or whatever it was.

I do not recall the precise wording of the motion,Ìýhowever, I do recall the proposal was to be forwarded to Caribbean heads of government.Ìý That is how seriously the matter was being viewed.

I challenged this judgement, and if I remember correctly, I was probably the only person to do so.Ìý At any rate, the motion was passed.

Is there a contradiction, or at least a paradox here?Ìý

Might those calling for reparations for slavery, on the one hand, be on the other hand - through their demonstrated love of and enthusiasm for cricket - unintentionally, even unconsciously undermining the reparations case?

Are they not conceding that they, and other descendants of enslaved Africans and indentured servants who populate this region, have derived some benefit from the trans-Atlantic slave trade and European colonialism?

The potent coincidence of the convening of the Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean and the bi-centenary of the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade provides us with a unique opportunity to explore these and related questions.Ìý

I am urging that this coincidenceÌýbe used as a catalyst and matrix to explore the Caribbean and European (especially the British) psyche and, more broadly, contemporary relations between the former slave trading nations of Europe, Africa and the Caribbean.Ìý

I believe a critical assessment of this coincidence can bring key elements of the vexing question of a discrete Caribbean identity, culture or civilization into sharp focus and may yield insights which can impact positively on race relations today.

Additionally, focusing primarily on my own writings and broader artistic expression and cultural activism, I am using this opportunity to tell my own story.Ìý

It is the story of how I, perhaps like many Caribbean writers before me, have been caught in the cross-fire of cultures that compete for Caribbean identity and 'authenticity'.

_{An edited extract from an article written by Junior Campbell.}