Cricket is one of those sports that I’ve never really got. I mean, I understand all the rules but I’ve never really got the fascination with it.
I used to play when I was little. When I was around 12 or so, I’d go along to Folkestone Cricket Club juniors every Friday night. It was quite good fun but I don’t remember being any good. The only two things that stick out in my mind as happening whilst I was there are being told that Cameroon had beaten Argentina in the 1990 World Cup and once – and only once – bowling out the best cricket player in my class at school.
I don’t really like the idea of someone throwing something hard at me as fast as they can so I’m not too keen on batting and I’m always worried that I’ll fail to catch a ball that’s coming straight at me (mainly because it often happens) and I can’t throw very well so I was never great at fielding. The only part of my game that could have been classed as almost adequate was bowling, however I was a confidence bowler and after being hit for six or bowling badly, I’d start to fall apart.
This was evidenced the last time I played cricket about 5 years ago in a one-off game. I bowled one over but within that over I got 13 balls. It was even more frustrating as I’d been practising whilst my team was batting and was doing reasonably well.
I think the thing I liked most about cricket was the unique scoring system used when scoring with pen and paper in the old style scorebooks. I like stats and odd systems of recording data, but that’s probably the accountant in me.
The main problem I have with watching cricket is my concentration span. I struggle to watch a film if it goes on longer than 90 minutes as my mind will tend to wander, so trying to follow a game that lasts for up to 5 days is definitely beyond me.
The one really good memory I’ve got of watching cricket is the 2005 Ashes series when I was living with Lewis. We’d get back from work and catch an hour or two of the day’s play. It was enjoyable because we were having a few drinks, having fun and enjoying all the nicknames the Aussies had for Shane Warne – I think we counted about 7 in total. On top of that, it was a close series which England won and that made it even more enjoyable.
I’ve often thought that I might enjoy cricket more if I’m watching a shorter overs game where they are more likely to just try and whack the ball rather than playing tactical forward defensive shots (or whatever they are called) all the time which is the sort of thing I don’t have the concentration for.
As such, when I got sent a discounted offer for the Kent v Sussex 40 overs match that was only just 3 days after Father’s day, I thought it would be not only a great present for my dad but also a good way to spend some time with my family and to see if I could enjoy watching a cricket match.
My dad loves cricket and when I pop round, he’ll often be watching it on the old telebox. In his youth, he used to umpire matches and this once resulted in him losing some teeth when a fielded ball accidentally went astray and hit him in the mouth. He used to take me to games when I was younger but I’d usually spend the time playing with other children that had been brought along by their dads rather than concentrating on the game. It seemed like a perfect present for him.
I have to admit, the game was actually one of the most enjoyable days of the year so far for me.
I met up with my brother Dan, my dad and our cousin Dom to get the bus up to Canterbury. We got there early afternoon and it happened to be the one sunny day of the week. Dom had worried me by texting me in the morning to tell me to check out the weather forecast which was exceptionally gloomy but we ended up basically sunbathing at the side of the pitch. Getting there an hour early meant we had front row seats nearest to the wicket.
My dad went to get us some ciders and shortly after arrival, the Spitfire Showgirls came round giving out gifts. I was surprised that there were cheerleaders at a cricket match – it doesn’t seem like the sort of sport where there is that level of glamour. They handed us out some flags, some cards with 4 and 6 on either side and some posters. These were to come in exceptionally useful later.
The other people in our party – two of my uncles and my friend Adam – arrived a little later and the atmosphere started to liven up as it got closer to kick off, or whatever it’s called in cricket. Bat off, perhaps?
Sussex batted first and they ended up just knocking us off the park. They got numerous sixes and fours and we only got a few wickets. The mood became a bit more sombre as it seemed unlikely that Kent would overcome their score and record the biggest comeback in 40 over cricket.
However, a few overs they came into bat, the mood became a bit more optimistic. Needing a run rate of 8.4 per over, they initially started off slower but picked up quickly and even my nay-saying Uncle Steve who said they still weren’t scoring quick enough started to think we could do it.
An incredible 118 from 53 balls for Darren Stevens put us well within touching distance and despite losing a couple of wickets near to the end to make it more nerve-wracking, they pulled through to record a record comeback and with a total of 673 runs, recorded the highest scoring 40 over match.
When Kent came into bat, we started using the 4/6 cards that the Showgirls had handed out. For some reason they have “THWACK!” written on them and the first time we got a boundary, I decided to shout it out at the same time. This soon caught on and me, Dan, Dom and Adam were shouting it every boundary and even managing to get some of the crowd behind us to join in as well.
The Showgirls had a few standard dances that they cycled through every boundary and they were moving slightly around the ground. I love dancing even if I’m not very good at it and caught up in the mood of the exceptional comeback, I decided that I was going to try to dance along with them when they were in front of us. I got the first of the dances down – it was literally shaking your pompoms and then lifting your knees, however the second was more tricky. Mostly, I was just glad that they didn’t think I was taking the piss as they seemed to laugh along with us, although they did seem to move round to the next part of the ground rather quickly.
I think generally, I enjoyed getting into a game that I didn’t think I would enjoy and also enjoyed being a bit lairy. I was literally on the edge of my seat for the last 10 overs of the match. It may have been a combination of the alcohol, the atmosphere, the fact that it was such a unique record-breaking game or just that deep in my heart I did actually want to like cricket, but my love for the sport has been if not rekindled then at least kindled.
It was quite cute. I liked the fact that the warning when you load up the game is is “Don’t walk into a Giant Monster’s Mouth.” It amused me enough to give the game a few goes. I didn’t understand what was going on really and forgot that I had the app.
