School Summer holidays, the sun beating down, quickly shoveling some breakfast and heading out. No mobile phones, no internet, just walking out and knocking on your mates door.
Getting together and dragging a bin in the middle of the road, 1 tennis ball, 1 bit of wood, and we were good to go for some of the most intense cricket matches I've played.
Imaginary boundaries laid out, and rules like "if you hit the ball into so and so's garden (normally the grumpy git with a pristine lawn), your out"
Some days it was just my friends having a game, but the intensity really went up a notch when challenging kids from other streets. No umpires, and LBW's were a thing of the past. You either got caught or were bowled.
With local bragging rights up for grabs, the games got heated, arguments boiled over, kids shouting and, sometimes, shoving each other.
Younger kids used to sit by and watch, even some of the house owners kept an eye on us. I'm not sure if it was to keep an eye on their cars or to watch and support the local kids. We always went with the latter.
These games were the pinnacle of my summers. We used to start around 11ish and play throughout the day. The fun we used to have topped anything a Playstation or Xbox could give you.
I don't see these games being played anymore. Now those roads lie empty, but when I do drive past, I can still remember those cricket matches we played there. So many happy memories.
Life was simple back then.
way back when...
posted on 2/12/16
I was hockey mad as a kid because of where i was born, and my uncle played hockey. Cricket was sport numero uno
Me and my brother would play in the hall at home or in a back yard which was long but not very wide
Then it was a church yard again having to play straight
served me well as I could always get the ball sailing over the bowlers head from weird angles
I played at a decent level in the end but couldnt get into my school team initially because i didnt play like they wanted me to. Never understood out 44 not out and highest scorer but I didnt do the whole forward defence as expected
football or cricket this country doesnt allow for natural flair
posted on 5/12/16
I still play little now when I can but injuries have caught with me.
posted on 5/12/16
comment by No_Wonder (U20205)
posted 58 minutes ago
I still play little now when I can but injuries have caught with me.
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tellin me, after a game of cricket I can barely move the next day.
posted on 5/12/16
comment by Lefty (U17934)
posted 27 minutes ago
comment by No_Wonder (U20205)
posted 58 minutes ago
I still play little now when I can but injuries have caught with me.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
tellin me, after a game of cricket I can barely move the next day.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I was an opening bowler and there wasn't a game where at the end I was in some sort of pain. Those pesky batters were alright and never got injured
posted on 5/12/16
comment by No_Wonder (U20205)
posted 4 minutes ago
comment by Lefty (U17934)
posted 27 minutes ago
comment by No_Wonder (U20205)
posted 58 minutes ago
I still play little now when I can but injuries have caught with me.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
tellin me, after a game of cricket I can barely move the next day.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I was an opening bowler and there wasn't a game where at the end I was in some sort of pain. Those pesky batters were alright and never got injured
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah bit much when kids have to help you up
Batting wise eyesight is a birch. Watch the ball they say. After the bounce just guess
posted on 5/12/16
Quick bowlers careers normally are the first to go..or they run into part time spinners.
posted on 5/12/16
comment by Zlatanariyan (U19849)
posted 4 hours, 2 minutes ago
comment by No_Wonder (U20205)
posted 4 minutes ago
comment by Lefty (U17934)
posted 27 minutes ago
comment by No_Wonder (U20205)
posted 58 minutes ago
I still play little now when I can but injuries have caught with me.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
tellin me, after a game of cricket I can barely move the next day.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I was an opening bowler and there wasn't a game where at the end I was in some sort of pain. Those pesky batters were alright and never got injured
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah bit much when kids have to help you up
Batting wise eyesight is a birch. Watch the ball they say. After the bounce just guess
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I batted 11 and I struggled with fast bowlers because I couldn't pick the ball up until very late but as soon as I faced a spinner I'd go after them which would mean I'd lob one in the air and get caught
posted on 5/12/16
comment by Lefty (U17934)
posted 2 hours, 42 minutes ago
Quick bowlers careers normally are the first to go..or they run into part time spinners.
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I started life as a fast bowler and was pretty decent. Opened for most clubs, uni team etc. Injuries and misdiagnosis meant a career out if it went but still played for leagues etc
What made me focus on medium pace and spin bowling was the pitches. Flat as feck. No chance for a quickie and part timers getting wickets. Last played in staffs and Cheshire league and the quickies come on do a couple of overs each and then its the spinners.
I use the words medium pacers and spinners lightly. Walk in and lob the ball
posted on 5/12/16
comment by No_Wonder (U20205)
posted 2 hours, 29 minutes ago
comment by Zlatanariyan (U19849)
posted 4 hours, 2 minutes ago
comment by No_Wonder (U20205)
posted 4 minutes ago
comment by Lefty (U17934)
posted 27 minutes ago
comment by No_Wonder (U20205)
posted 58 minutes ago
I still play little now when I can but injuries have caught with me.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
tellin me, after a game of cricket I can barely move the next day.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I was an opening bowler and there wasn't a game where at the end I was in some sort of pain. Those pesky batters were alright and never got injured
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah bit much when kids have to help you up
Batting wise eyesight is a birch. Watch the ball they say. After the bounce just guess
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I batted 11 and I struggled with fast bowlers because I couldn't pick the ball up until very late but as soon as I faced a spinner I'd go after them which would mean I'd lob one in the air and get caught
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I batted up the order initially and always did well. Slow bowlers annoyed me because they were not bowlers IMO. Krappy pitches and any guy who turns his arm over was calling himself a spinner
As I got older and went down a level to play for the seconds or on occassion the thirds pitches got worse and so did the bowlers, but they got wickets and thought they were Monty
What I would have given to face these clowns on a proper pitch
Thus and the fact that the chairman's kids got games and even captained sides when they didn't know a tennis ball from a cricket ball meant I called time
posted on 6/12/16
I used to open, dident mind quick bowlers but it was those "lollipop" bowlers who tossed the ball in with "hit me" written all over it, that used to get me.
After defending a couple I just had to have a swing.
he politics - happens at every club. Every year at our AGM there was some sort of argument, from the finances to the player selection. There was a "click" that always seemed to get picked regardless of performance.