When the black, green and gold went up on midnight August 5, 1962, this island was unknown and insignificant to most of the world, and even to those who lived here the word, 'Jamaica' evoked little emotion.

Forty-nine years on, we are famed planetwide for our vivid music and culture, and 'Jamaica' instantly induces a sense of spontaneous excitement and freedom of spirit.

Now world-influencing nations are usually old, big or rich.

Things are never so bad that they can't get worse. It's a lesson West Indies cricket fans have learnt ad nauseam over the past 15 years. Since 1995 we have watched in disbelief as unimagined new depths are regularly plunged. First Test series defeat in more than 10 years. Series whitewash. All out for 47. Beaten by Bangaladesh. Not even fielding our best 11. What will the next low be? The loss of Test status?

ONCE UPON a time a Jamaican gold medal at the Olympics or the World Championships in Athletic was a rare event, and a medal of any kind was reason for celebration. Between 1964 and 2004, we won only four Olympic golds, and an average of three medals per Games. Between the first World Championships in 1983 and 2003, we won three individual and three relay golds, and an average of under six medals per meet.

Worst Indies. That's what people have been calling the formerly beloved cricket team for the last 10 years or so. A once-proud symbol of joy was now a constant source of embarrassment, as they lost match after match. Sensible people simply stopped caring. Those helplessly addicted to Windies cricket began to question our sanity - why voluntarily subject yourself to endless humiliation?

HITTING OR kicking balls are amusing diversions that should never be taken too seriously. But the compressed dramas of sport often illuminate real-life dilemmas. The 20/20 cricket World Cup final was one such parable.

It was everything the 50-over Cricket World Cup wanted to be but wasn't - a well-organised month of pulsating action that engrossed billions worldwide. Advertisers licked their lips. ICC bosses talked of 20/20 at the Olympics - and it does offer more consistent excitement and variety than baseball.

Love is a wonderful thing, when it's going right. Your heart sings, you walk on air. But when it goes wrong, there's nothing more painful. Your inside hurt. A black cloud follows you around. You curse yourself for caring so much when you know you shouldn't.

What a match! What a crowd! What an experience! Old cliche's, yes, but it just doesn't get any better than this. Sabina Park on Tuesday was undoubtedly the happiest place on the planet. The sheer unbridled exhilaration all around made me realise again how God blessed I was to be born in the West Indies.

Sports, like beauty and music, is in the eyes and ears of the beholder. Who is the prettiest, Carla Campbell, Aishwarya Rai or Angelina Jolie? Whose music sounds the best, Mozart, Marley or Miles? Who is the top athlete, Tiger Woods, Roger Federer or Michael Schumacher? You pays your money and you takes your choice.

Is cricket dying in Jamaica? It certainly appears so on the face of it. Practically no one watches our club and schoolboy leagues. Even first-class matches draw few spectators.

For all that, and all that,
It is coming yet for all that,
That man to man the world over
Shall brothers be for all that.