Riccardo Small lives on the Island. He's the smallest boy in his class at school, and he loves cricket. In fact, he's a walking cricket encyclopaedia and can tell you the averages of every West Indian test match player in history, the names of all the cricket grounds in the world and more besides. But Riccardo also loves poetry and songs - especially calypso. When he is dropped from the cricket team after missing a vital catch, Riccardo wanders the island, taking refuge in his poems. He meets Count Crayfish, an eccentric figure, well known on the Island for his triumphs in the Calypso Competition, and together they think of a way in which Riccardo can still help the cricket team...