CricketWell, it's Jamaica not St Kitts. You could have told that by the expressions of resignation on the faces in the press box after Ireland's first two wickets fell cheaply. Jaundiced as their opinions usually are, the press-box view was St Kitts has the glamour, not the soaring crime rate.
Throughout the afternoon Castle Avenue could have been the Caribbean, the sun drilling into the players and fans sitting in the still air at the Cricket Bar end, their beer reaching unbearable temperatures. Cricket generates its own lethargy, its own buzz, its own slow-burning drama.
The longer you stick around, the more you invest, the bigger the return.
Many invested yesterday for a last chance to see Ed Joyce in an Irish shirt, his effortless timing, his mixture of cavalier and caution, flirt with a very much up-for-it crowd. Sure he won them over.
The Irish man believed to be good enough to play Test cricket for England finally fell for 81, a skied shot deep to midwicket and into the cradling hands of the Scottish boundary fielder.
A turning point, the collective Irish charge visible dissipated.
"That 'ne was a big, big wicket," said the man from Strabane as 3,500 Irish jaws dropped around the ground. Eighty-two balls, 10 fours and one six said the man with the statistics. "Aye, Ireland 'ill have to puck a lot of quick ball," added the canny Ulster observer.
These are heady times. These are moments for the lovers of sitting 10 hours in the sun, moments for those who light up at the sound of nerves jangling at the wicket, or in Joyce's case, barely vibrating.
Ireland in a credible final, a place in the 2007 World Cup and an invitation to step through the ropes to face Pakistan, the West Indies and Zimbabwe in two years' time.
The Irish side may well then be asked to punch above their weight but Clontarf in July, and the home side courageously chasing down a Ben Nevis of a Scottish score, had its own exotic whiff.
That unconquerable 325 pile from the Scots, which they defended with stereotypical meanness, was awash with its own amateur tales.
Wicketkeeper Colin Smith, arrived to Dublin for the final having missed the semi-finals, his day-job as a policemen keeping him in Gleneagles for the protection of the G8 summit heads.
There was also Zimbabwean Ryan Watson, his two over for the front nine and six over for the back nine at the Smurfit course at the K Club clearly putting his eye in for a knock of 94 before being caught by Andrew White.
But for the home crowd it was Joyce.
"I didn't really think of it," said the player of his probable last game for Ireland.
"It might sink in later. Just don't know. If I don't get a chance with England, hopefully I will, I might get another chance with Ireland. This year there has been a big leap. Getting the 1,000 runs first was a big achievement. It's very flattering."
Engaging too.
