Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor

Well, my daahlings, for sometime now, most West Indian cricket fans have approached the prospect of attending a Test match with something akin to trepidation. This was born out of the recent string of performances that have seen the once invincible regional cricket team, not only suffering some humiliating defeats, but as if to add insult to injured regional pride, seemed to also have cultivated the knack of cheating their fans of any merriment by being able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

In the business of cricket, however, especially where fans are concerned, hope springs eternally and so it was that for many who ventured out to the famed Sabina Park last week for the first Test in the current series against England, it was hope that spurred them on. You see, nothing leading up to the match, based on form and or performance, even hinted that West Indies glory days were here again!

The hospitality suite

Well, my dears, last Saturday the place to be was Sabina Park, the preferred vantage, Digicel's fifth-floor hospitality suite, nestled high up in the north stands of the famed cricketing ground, and thus not only providing a panoramic view of the grounds themselves, but also a most scenic and intimate view of greater Kingston and Port Royal, and my dears, how!

My dears, if anything, since establishing its foothold here in Jamaica, mobile service provider, Digicel, has proven that it is a superior organisation when it comes to customer service and appreciation. And my dears, if there were any doubt in anyone's mind, last week's test match at Sabina should completely erase them, as dearhearts, this was a fab lesson in corporate entertaining and hospitality that was nothing short of perfection.

Dears, it was hot like that, and then some!

Luvs, in the tradition started by his predecessors Seamus Lynch and David Hall, Digicel's new CEO of Jamaican Operations, Mark Linehan, with his lovely Vincentian wife, Leisha Linehan, fresh from their honeymoon at his side, proved a faultless host and then some. And my dears, the game of cricket was never any better.

Dovecakes, it was a glorious day all around and nothing but. It was cooking with thermo-nuclear heat of the fabulous order and faultlessly so!

My dears, we are talking fab-style here, starting with a fab breakfast offering between the hours of 8:30 and 11 a.m. with lunch following later; but with English wickets afalling in quick succession it was all about flowing cocktails, and dears, we do mean premium libations here and nothing but! And luvs, as the afternoon wore, and it became clear that the West Indies was on the verge of a fabulous win, what was already a rocking suite became a cauldron, punctuated by celebratory popping of bottles and bottles of that fine party elixir named champagne and dears, it made for one fabulous session of cricket for fans and supporters.

And with the Digicel management team out in full force, giving support to CEO Mark Linehan and wife Leisha, headed by Trisha Thompson, corporate relations manager; Niall Sheehy, head of Digicel business; Director of Sales Jason Corrigan; Suzanne Palomino, Kerry-Ann Robinson, corporate relations executive; Shelly Ann Curran, senior sponsorship manager; and the fab Stephanie Scott, who did up the haute decor for the suite, y'all know we are talking a fabfest here!

Hot list of fab people

And sweet-things, that it was, and then some, as a party is only as hot as its guests, and we are talking one hot list of fab people in attendance here, from the politico to the socialite, the quoted and the misquoted. The hot and the fab, and not to mention a number of international personalities, all making for one fabulous meld and pumpkins, we mean fab like that and nothing but, and with the fall of the last wicket guaranteeing a West Indies win by an innings, dears, it was a case of don't stop the party, as indeed, for the first time in a long time West Indies fans and supporters had a victory to celebrate and that they did!

Among the notables out, savouring the cricket and the great atmosphere created by host Digicel, were Prime Minister Bruce Golding; Transport Minister Mike Henry; Information, Sports, Youth and Culture Minister Babsy Grange; junior minister Daryl Vaz and his lovely wife, Ann-Marie; senator Noel Sloley; UWI Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Nigel Harris; British High Commissioner HE Jeremy Cresswell; the eminent Tony Hart; Mrs Jennifer Lim; Ray Miles Sr; the elegant Mrs Sue McManus; Noel Hylton; Paul Issa and his son, Balthazar; Dennis Morrison; the lovely Enid Harrow; David Hall; Clarence Clarke and his brother, Derrick Clarke; Harry and Ann-Marie Smith; Dr Carl Bruce; Mario and Fiona Machado.

We also saw William Mahfood; Mark and Karen Myers; the fabulous Minna Israel; Aubyn Hill; the lovely Audrey Marks Dunstan; EG Hunter; Rajiv Bakshi; Saleem Lazarus; Roger Malik and the lovely Amber Vicens Stewart; Ken Mason; Phillip and Melanie Schwapp; Norman Peart; Allison Stewart; Robert Stephenson squiring the lovely Nancy McLean; Vinay Walia and his companion, Sijae Robinson; Zachary Harding; Yvonne Wilks; Ian Bennett-Easy; Sharon Roper; the pre-eminent Usain Bolt, his brother Sadiki Bolt; Olympic gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser, also out and looking fab; songstress Etana, looking positively radiant; and the lovely Shari Baker; plus a number of others.