‘It’s in the blood’: how Barbados became cricket’s ultimate hotspot

West Indies v England at Kensington Oval is a special occasion that takes place on sacred ground; a country so lush by way of cricketing talent per head over the years, Barbados stands out as one of world sport’s most remarkable hotspots.

Before the roll call of great Barbadian cricketers spools down the page, first consider the numbers: with a population of 287,000, the new republic would sit fourth bottom were it ranked alongside England’s 48 counties, tucked between Herefordshire and Northumberland (with more palm trees than either). And yet this 21-miles-by-14-miles island, the most easterly in the Lesser Antilles, is the first in the Caribbean to produce more than a century of international cricketers.

Of the 385 men to play for West Indies since they first took the field at Lord’s in 1928, 98 (25.45%) hail from Barbados, with the far more populous Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago next on 83. There are 90 Barbadians who have played Test cricket on the list and eight more have won white-ball caps alone. Add the four players to cross the Atlantic and represent England – Roland Butcher, Gladstone Small, Chris Jordan and Jofra Archer – and its bat is already raised before getting to its 15 West Indies women and the 11 men to have played for associate nations.

“Everything suggests that it is highly likely the most verdant place in the history of the sport,” says Andrew Samson, the leading cricket statistician, after he and the local journalist David Harris helped confirm the numbers. “If not in terms of square miles then at least per capita. And I would imagine it would be in the conversation for any international sport, not just cricket.”

As England’s cricketers and their sun-seeking supporters have taken in their