DEREK PRINGLE

@derekpringle
Watching Ireland’s batsmen hop about against India’s pace bowlers the other night, bottom hand off bat and clenched in agony, reminded me of my own experiences of playing cricket in New York, both of them against the mighty West Indies team of the late 1980s.
The two matches, 45-over affairs, were played at the Downing Stadium on Randall’s Island in the Bronx, once home of the New York Cosmos when Pelé played for them in the mid-1970s.
This was no sainted piece of turf even then. When Pelé turned up for his first game he refused to play. The playing field was ...