Photos by LeVaughn Flynn
(1) The fan support group, Waving the Flag, lives up to its name in support of the Aussies and manages to stick a Jamaican flag in between all that blue, red and white.
(2) Australian Nicole Borthwick talks with a local policeman during the match
(3) Power 106's Dervan Malcolm (right) speaks to a few exotically dressed Australian fans on the mound.

Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

THE STADIUM may not have been packed to capacity as the first of the Digicel three-Test series got under way at Sabina Park on Thursday, but the vibes certainly weren't found wanting.

Thousands of patrons around the ground waved vibrant flags as they spurred on the team of their choice.

Antiguan, Barbadian, Trinidadian, Grenadian and, of course, Jamaican flags wafted in the light breeze as blaring horns, whistles and the drums of an energetic marching band all tried to push home favourites the West Indies to seemingly do the impossible, get a leg up on world champions Australia.

Nice surprise

"Well, they are the big team and we would love to beat them. I hope the guys can give us a nice surprise," one enthusiastic West Indian fan said.

"I hope we beat them. I stole a little time off from work to be here and I'm having a lot of fun. The vibes in the stadium are always nice whenever you come to watch the West Indies," she said.

However, not to be outdone, travelling Aussie fans decked in yellow or waving the bright blue-and-red Australian flag seemed to feel right at home.

"This is my 124th Test match and I've been encouraging people to travel the world, wherever Australia play, now for seven years," said Luke Gillian, director of one group of travelling Australians called 'Waving the Flag'.

"It's always great fun, just to show you how much, 80 per cent of the people will come back. This is my fifth visit to Jamaica," Gillian said.

According to Gillian, speaking on behalf of the group which numbered 34, following the team around - much like the effort it takes to keep the team on top, requires planning dedication and hard work.

"We work hard in Australia or up in the UK. You know that the team is playing in the West Indies in 2008 or playing in India; people envision where they want to go and plan for it and that's how come we are able to come to the Caribbean for a couple of weeks," he said.

Apart from the cricket, Gillian, a chef by profession, never misses the opportunity to feast on Caribbean food.

"It's very casual, that's what I like about it. You can just go up to a barbecue stop at a little jerk shack ... it's super, you can't get that anywhere else."

Waving the Flag wasn't the only group enjoying the Caribbean flavour as the 'Burblers' bunch and the bright-yellow clad 'Fanatics' partied away on the world-famous mound.