It's the Cricket Season

When I was a teenager summer meant the cricket season and the cricket season meant summer. I played a lot. It is a wonderful game. I cannot think of a game that is better. It is subtle yet explosive, incredibly physical yet idle for long periods, it has endless stats (always good for geeky teens), is exclusive for those who understand its laws and rituals yet open to all. Some of the best moments of my life have been towards the end of a game, fielding on the boundary, after a long spell of bowling, chewing on a long blade of grass, as the shadows cast by the local village church spire stretch further across the ground and the wheat in a near by field sways in the gentle wind. It is like nothing else. It wouldn't be invented today. It takes too long. And that is part of its charm.