Antigua has no boundaries as a dream holiday destination - especially if you love cricket

Phone home? The beach at Dickenson Bay

As a boy I pestered my dad for my first cricket bat.

Not just any bat. Not the one Dad said was best for me. Not the most expensive one I could find. Not even the one all my mates had.

It was the bat used by my hero...Sir Viv Richards.

As a young boy I watched him on TV, smashing bowlers around cricket grounds all over the world.

Now, more than 25 years on, here I was shaking the great man’s hand. On his home soil in Antigua. Talking to him about cricket.

Only it was ME in the cricket kit and him wishing me good luck as I went out to bat. In the very stadium built and named in his honour and where England will play the west Indies  in a Test match starting on Monday.

It is the moment I’ll bore my children with for years to come.

I’ll probably bore other people and their children with it too.

There isn’t much to say about my innings (11 runs if you must know), but it’s fair to say none of Sir Viv’s greatness rubbed off on me during that tea interval handshake and chat.

But no matter.

My hero had watched ME bat and bowl.

In keeping with our professional peers, who last month endured a miserable World Cup, this team of English journalists left the floodlit Sir Vivian Richards Stadium beaten (by a huge margin) and bruised (literally).

But we were elated to have spent an evening in a legend’s company.

My hero: Barry with Sir Viv Richards

We had travelled to Antigua to play – and lose as it turned out – three games of cricket. Two were against Antigua Legends and Masters teams, made up of former professionals and some of the island’s best players
of yesteryear.

The other was against an eager-to-impress Antigua Under-19 team from the American University of Antigua, a charming little ground next to the sea.

Cricket is a way of life in the Caribbean and this island is no different.

But, with plenty of downtime available away from the cricket pitch, we were able to see for ourselves that Antigua isn’t all about the sport.

For a start it has beautiful beaches – their legendary boast is that they have 365, one for each day of the year.

The two hotels where we stayed had their own idyllic, sandy stretches, with the kind of turquoise waters you normally see only in bro­­chures and TV ads. At Sandals Grande Antigua in the north of the island is the beautiful Dickenson Bay beach.

This is all inclusive couples hotel so there are no family rooms or children and it offers a blissfully peaceful escape – little wonder that this is seen as one of the most romantic resorts in the world.

Its eleven restaurants offer food ranging from traditional Caribbean cuisine in Eleanors and fresh fish in Barefoot by the Sea through to Japanese dishes in Kimonos and pizza and pasta
in Marios.

Another stand-out feature at Sandals is the huge choice of room types.

Split into two – the Caribbean Grove and Mediterranean Village – the resort offers everything from double rooms and apartments overlooking the beach or pools to huge four-poster sea-view suites and even “rondovals”, little beachside suites, some with their own private pools.

Master blaster: Barry batting at the Sir Viv Richards Stadium

Other specialities include the Red Lane Spa (try a massage and you will not regret it) and water sports on the beach.

And if it’s all-out luxury you want, choose a Butler Service room. Our butler would ring us on a special mobile phone provided by the hotel to check if we needed fresh ice in the room or a coolbox on the beach.

Antigua is not a big island so the journey from Sandals in the north west to our second hotel, the St James’s Club in the south east, took only 45 minutes.

While you may not have heard of the hotel, X Factor fans may recognise its beautiful Mamora Bay location.This is where Nicole Scherzinger has previously picked her final three contestants at the Judge’s Houses stage of the show.

Half of this all-inclusive resort is a hotel and the other half consists of luxury villas set high above the bay itself.

We were in one of the huge two- bedroom, two-storey villas where Nicole herself stayed in last winter, and its huge terrace provided a spectacular view.

This is a family resort with a selection of restaurants to cater for all and free water sports to entertain anyone from energetic kids to adventurous adults.

For anyone who still has energy left over there are tennis courts on site and the impressive Cedar Valley Golf Club is a short drive away.

But the emphasis here is on relaxation. Massages and beauty treatments are available at the Tranquility Body & Soul Spa, also overlooking Mamora Bay.

And if you hit the beach and don’t fancy the short walk, cocktails and other drinks can be brought to you free of charge by a butler in a golf buggy.

Its’ just about the only place in the world a man can order a Pina Colada without feeling like Del Boy in the Nag’s Head. St James’s Club is also just a short taxi ride from some of
Antigua’s must-see locations.

Timewatch: Nelson's Dockyard and English Harbour

Nelson’s Dockyard offers the chance to step back in time to see where Admiral Horatio Nelson lived between 1784 and 1787.

Now a cultural heritage site and marina, it hosts Antigua Sailing Week and draws thousands of tourists every year, yet remains a tranquil place to visit. The dockyard is part of the English Harbour area of the island, also known for its beautiful Falmouth Harbour, which has fantastic restaurants and plenty of people-watching opportunities.

To get a taste of how the locals enjoy their island, head to St John’s, the capital and largest city of Antigua and Barbuda.

Don’t miss the B-Hive bar in the Heritage Quay quarter of St John’s.

Essentially a sports bar by day, it comes alive at night with authentic Caribbean dishes such as Saltfish and Pepper Pot and music which has locals and tourists dancing in the streets – literally so.

If a quiet drink is more your thing, try King’s Casino, which is a short walk away.

If you’re as lucky as we were you might even see former West Indies cricket star Sir Curtly Ambrose playing bass in his band Spirited.

Away from the bustling nightlife of St John’s is an altogether different night out at Shirley Heights.

This incredible vantage point, which hosts special evening parties once a week on Sundays, is well worth a visit, and not just for the steel band and rum punch.

Its view over the harbour is a picture-postcard panorama, with a beautiful sunset too.

So if it’s relaxing on a beautiful beach, delicious food, superb weather, wonderful scenery and friendly locals you’re after, Antigua won’t disappoint.

When I settle down to watch some of England’s opening Test Match from the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Monday it won’t just be the cricket I’ll be remembering fondly.

Keep that Pina Colada cold for me. I’ll be back as soon as I can.