Rankin a top draw for vexed Guyanans

World Cup diary: Richard Gillison a week in which the Irish found favour with prince as well as punter.

SUNDAY

West Indies play Sri Lanka today at Providence Stadium, the only time Guyanans get to see their team in the tournament. The ground is fullish, and the mound stand awash with the red, yellow and green Rastafarian colours. For a while it is just what the World Cup should be about. The politics, the silly rules, the moaning are forgotten and we are sitting watching cricket in a great atmosphere.

West Indies spoil their own party. They are awful, sloppy in the field and out of sorts with the bat. The weight on Brian Lara to perform is huge. He goes to a brilliant stumping by Kumar Sangakarra, the sort of thing good sides do at the big moments to turn games in their favour. They look a well balanced side, superb in the field and no longer overly dependent on Muttiah Muralitharan's genius.

Later at the players' hotel, Sanath Jayarasyria walks in to the poolside area, which is full of tourists and returning Guyanese. Everyone nods appreciation as he walks by. Just a few hours before, he stood in the middle of 13,000 or so people and blasted a fantastic century. Must feel pretty good to be him tonight.

Great April Fools joke played on Kyle McCallan and Andrew White, the two PE teachers from the same school in Belfast who are the Irish team's practical jokers. They get a message that Christopher Martin Jenkins, the London Times cricket writer and Test Match Special commentator, wants to interview them. For an hour they wait at the appointed hotel in their Sunday best before the texts from team-mates come in. Retribution will be swift.

MONDAY

The Guyanan minister for tourism has invited the travelling Irish media to visit Kaieteur, the spectacular 740-foot waterfall on the edge of the rainforest, an hour's flight from Georgetown.

The seven of us still out here have followed the Ireland team since Kingston. We are to be joined by the minister's stunning young assistant, who, we later discover, came runner-up in Guyana's Miss Universe competition. The alacrity with which we follow her onto the plane recalls the closing credits of The Benny Hill Show.

The pilot of the tiny propeller plane gives us a pep talk: "If we have a problem I have a jungle survival kit under my seat." He says this with a stutter, which adds to the dramatic tension.

The falls are stunning, five times the height of Niagara. The water of the Potaro river is jet black from the stewing of the rainforest leaves that fall into it.

"It's like tea," says our guide.

"More like a Guinness," says a voice from the back.

The day is completed by kayaking up-river amid the noises of the jungle. Great day.

TUESDAY

Ireland play well in a losing cause, the South Africans too strong. A few dropped catches add to the feeling of what might have been. The team have become folk heroes here. The towering figure of Boyd Rankin is a particular favourite of the crowd close to the boundary,

"Hey, uptown top Rankin', you's bigger than my house, man."

The BBC has caused a stir here by posting a blog that presents a "glass half empty" view of Georgetown, going heavy on the poverty, crime and perceived lack of natural beauty. It has prompted a furious response from the Starbrook Times. The locals in the Buddy's Bar are equally furious. It's obvious they have invested hugely in the success of this tournament, not just in sporting terms. They have been sold a vision of the future that places sports tourism at the centre of their economic wellbeing, so personal prosperity is closely tied to the cricket.

"He better not come down here, man, we know his name," says a local of the now infamous BBC blogger.

WEDNESDAY

Get up early and go down to breakfast. Shaun Pollock is in the pool, having just been to the gym. It's 6.30am.

The Ireland team have a day off, and they split into groups to make the most of it. Trent Johnston and Paul Mooney head off to watch the Champions League games at Windies, the sports bar in town. Others continue to search for a pool, as their hotel doesn't have one.

Spent an hour talking with some Guyanese fans. They are extremely knowledgeable, citing incidents from Tests that took place 10 or 20 years ago.

They are furious the West Indies players have taken time off after their poor display at the weekend. Sadly, they are convinced match fixing is at the root of the performance. One produces a Sunday Times report, downloaded to his phone, on betting in India. There is no evidence but once the idea is out there, any game that does not go to plan is under scrutiny. The shadow of Bob Woolmer's death still hangs over this tournament and the game in general.

THURSDAY

Ireland team manager Roy Torrens comes down from his hotel room and bumps into England's Prince Andrew in the lobby. The prince is on a private visit, with a Swedish businessman in tow. He has lunch at the Cara Lodge, the home of the Ireland team these past two weeks. ICU media man Barry Chambers is in for a quote.

"I've been following the competition on the television," say Andrew. "You've certainly enhanced the Cup with your spirit. It's great to see a team with a smile on their faces. I see you got beaten by England on Friday, but if it's any consolation, we just can't seem to beat you at rugby."

The solidly built Torrens says later, "I'll have to see what he ordered for lunch - if it's good enough for the royal family, it's good enough for me."

FRIDAY

The New Zealand team are in town. They are a close-knit group, like a gang of mates. They lack the sharp-edged intensity of the Australians and the surly, moody thing the England team seem to have going.

Go to Starbrook Market in the centre of Georgetown, a big, under-cover bazaar full of people selling anything they can lay hands on. The character of Georgetown is shaped by its Amerindian heritage. Walking in the market with its noise and hustle, you might think you were in Calcutta or Bombay.

The evening is spent at Sidewalk Cafe, a live jazz venue. The headline act is Bootsy Allen, billed as the best steel-drum player in the Caribbean, who is over from his home in Trinidad. It is an incredible show. The small bar, packed with locals, is so hot the walls are sweating.

"This World Cup is nowhere near as much fun as the Stanford," says a guy at the bar, referring to the Twenty20 tournament held in the Caribbean last year. "We could take anything into the ground, and the cricket was really good. You could hear the shouts of 'four' from the bars all across town. I'm sick of these rules, rules, rules."

It's depressing that something as tedious as ambush marketing should be such a hot topic. The ICC has contrived to take something as culturally exciting as Caribbean cricket and turn it in to the ATP tennis tour, where every game looks and feels the same, regardless of whether it is in Miami, Shanghai or Berlin.

Nice job.

Ireland all-rounder Andre Botha is doubtful for the World Cup Super Eights match against New Zealand in three days' time after injuring a hamstring in training yesterday.

Botha, a crucial player with his medium-paced bowling and batting in the middle order, hurt his right hamstring playing touch rugby at Everest Cricket Club, Georgetown.

The team management hope he will make a speedy recovery, but if he has pulled the muscle it is likely to be the end of his World Cup.