We stayed in a hotel just outside the capital, St Georges, owned by Peter de Savary whose entrepreneurial activities extend to Grenada, including a marina, a farm and property development.

St Georges is reputedly the most attractive of the Caribbean capitals. In common with much of the region there is a fort, although in this case the scene of more recent action; this was the location of the execution of the Prime Minister and 24 colleagues in 1983, which led to the invasion by the US. In St Georges we also visited markets to buy fish, fruit and vegetables as we had cooking facilities. We were introduced to a “superfood”, the fruit of the locust tree known, for reasons that became clear, as stinking toe fruit ! Thankfully the taste was better than the smell.

The Grenadians are extremely friendly and helpful, even by West Indian standards, and also very religious – mainly Roman Catholic and Seventh Day Adventists, however we did see a Scottish Kirk, severely damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

We had a day in Carriacou, a sister island reached by a two hour ferry trip. It is even quieter and more laid back than Grenada with beautiful beaches and more friendly people who all seemed to know each other.

As it turned out the third test was a dead rubber with West Indies already up 2-0. Most people in the stadium were Brits, however it still had a very different atmosphere (and temperature) to Lord’s. The food stalls were run by locals who bought in hot food to sell, including goat stew which was delicious, although looked at somewhat sideways by the Barmy Army. The party zone in the stadium, supported by the main sponsor Sandals, and including a pool and sun loungers, was noisy and singing out of tune, fuelled by beer and rum. The cricket – Mark Wood took five wickets, Joe Root scored 100, England won and St Lucia must have the coolest grounds men !

The main reason for visiting St Lucia was the cricket as we have been before, however we saw a different part of the island close to the capital, Castries. Our hotel was a ten minute drive from the cricket which meant that most of the travelling cricket watching Brits were close by. Indeed, the Sky commentary team were in the same hotel and the England team and coaches in the same beach bar/restaurant two nights before the match stared.

St Lucia has two airports – one for the intercontinental routes and the other, much smaller, for regional Caribbean routes. Our flights in and out of St Lucia were from the latter which has the most attractive “departure lounge” – food shacks by the beach.

We visited Pigeon Island – no longer an island – a historic strategic lookout, facing Martinique, for pirates taken over by the British, who built Fort Rodney. The climb to the two peaks of the island is rewarded by fantastic views.

Tobago is the smaller of the two islands comprising the Caribbean country, Trinidad and Tobago, closest to South America. Its main source of income is oil and gas, making it one of the wealthiest Caribbean countries. Tobago has a population of 61,000 with Scarborough being its capital. Like many of the islands in the region it has a history of being ruled by several European countries, ending with the British until independence in 1962. This leads to some familiar place names in unfamiliar surroundings – Glamorgan, Argyle and Speyside for example.

Oil and gas has made the population relatively comfortable with 60% of the people working (using the term loosely, according to a number of locals we met) for the government. Tourism is important but underdeveloped, which is part of its charm. It has the oldest protected rainforest in the world, designated in 1776. Consequently Tobago is a haven for bird life and the twitchers that follow !

We did a few trips around the island including the rainforest, Little Tobago (an adjacent uninhabited island), beaches and a number of fishing villages, including Buccoo, famed for goat racing and “Sunday School”, a large street party every Sunday night.

This was the first stop on our seven island trip to the West Indies; renowned as the island of the rich and famous ever since the days of Princess Margaret. However it is very relaxed and understated, whilst being strictly controlled by the Mustique Island Company which owns and runs the island (and is in turn owned by the 100 or so villa owners). One of the services is security which includes monitoring all arrivals and departures via the island airline and airport, both owned by the company. On one occasion a man purporting to be a bird watcher, with a large camera, arrived only to have his pictures reviewed which indicated he was a member of the press; so he was dispatched back to St Lucia on the next flight.

Whilst there we coincided with the island’s annual Blues Festival at Basil’s Bar – Mick Jagger was there the night before us, attending not performing !