Still Love My Cricket!

Its been a life long passion/obsession this cricket thing. From a small schoolboy growing up in Perth to watching in Melbourne to a sad longing for the game in Rochester, New York.

Rochester, NY is not the best place to play cricket and now, sadly, given the ravages of time, I have become a little too old to be a tear away fast bowler scaring the dickens out of any batsman foolish enough to want to face me. And never being any type of half decent batsman myself I am forever banished to the sidelines.

I have lived through the semi boring game of the sixties, reveled in the excitement of Lillee and Thompson in the 70s, borne the embarrassment of the failing Australian side in the 80s, again reveled in the amazing 90's and the first decade of the 21st century and saw the inevitable decline after the retirement of Warne, McGrath, Waugh, Gilchrist et al. Expecting a long time in the cricketing wilderness I am most pleasantly surprised to see Australia giving England an almighty thrashing in the Ashes series now being played in Australia.

Despite a rich history in the USA cricket remains not just a mystery to Americans but is more like a bad joke the rest of the world likes to play on all of them. It is such a mystery that Americans seem to think that even those of us who love the game have no idea what the rules are. Without access to live coverage or even a delayed coverage its all but impossible to explain the game.

So I live with my passion for cricket unshared. Given the internet and phones I still have contact with family and friends who share my adoration of the gentleman's game. Its not all that bad. You Tube allows me to enjoy the great moments of Australia's domination of the world of cricket. I could of course launch into a lengthy explanation of the rules and tactics of cricket but that is both self-serving and pointless. You really have to watch it and work it out. Sort of like I did with American football which, for the record, I love.

If you happen to come across the game being played just sit a while and enjoy it. Don't bother about understanding it. Ask someone and they will tell you what its all about.