It’s that time of year again. Wisden and the Playfair
Cricket Annual are in the shops, sports journalists are arguing about
whether the universities deserve to have first-class status in this day and
age, there’s a row
going on at the MCC, the County Championship is under way and all over the country
men of varying cricketing abilities are unpacking their kit from wherever they
left it back in September and starting to get a bit excited. Until they realise
that the elastic on the trousers has gone, the bat’s knackered, there’s a hole
in the shirt and the whole lot smells and needs to go in the wash.
I only started playing cricket again last season after a
hiatus of several years, and I really enjoyed it. I even took a few wickets
with my off-spin. My training regime (club nets on Sunday evenings from January
onwards) was cruelly interrupted by serious injury (I fell off my bike when I
hit an icy patch – nothing broken, but my God it hurt). On the plus side, I
have a new pair of whites (reduced to £9:99 in Sports Direct) and a new
long-sleeved jumper (£6 in a local charity shop, an absolute steal). Once I get
the hems on the whites sorted, I’m ready to go! Our first game is this
Saturday.
That’s the plan anyway. The first game was meant to be last
Saturday (I couldn’t make it as I was in Italy) but it got rained off.
Looking at the long-range forecast, there’s every chance that this week’s game
will go the same way.
Let the summer commence (weather permitting)!
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