Club Cricket from the inside.

  Just like Marmite (Vegemite to those antipodeans) Indoor Cricket never seems to have any in between there are people who would rather have some time off and maybe net when it comes to January or there are those (myself included) who absolutely love it. I have tried to seek out indoor cricket wherever I have lived in the country, gracing sports halls of Tipton, Hastings, Beckenham, Redhill and Sheffield. There is also the bitter debate about what the format should be, in England we play a 6 a side version which is designed for a traditional sports hall, but when you say indoor cricket to cricketers front the Southern Hemisphere they think of a pairs game played with a softer yellow ball in a modified “court”. In my view both are good games, nether replicate actual outdoor cricket completely but it’s a much better way to keep skills over winter than nets, the slight competitive element and being able to practice fielding helps as an addition to nets. The big difference is your ...

    I am not football follower but each year I can’t escape transfer deadline day coming around, to follow the sports I’m interested in I follow many sports channels all of which are posting about such things in January or February of each year. In these headlines we read, contract singed, contract extended, new deal agreed or left by mutual consent. Recently in the cycling off season my feed is full of such terms. But in the last few years another feed of mine if full of these terms, a place you necessarily would not associate with such language if you were outside this very niche circle of people. These are the social media posts of cricket clubs and even newly created transfer rumours anonymous account posting about the movement of players. I appreciate people are putting a social media spin on things and helping to gain traction, but is this language necessary or even helpful to the wider club cricket environment? There are plenty of other examples of this throug...

    Remember the summer of 2024? Everyone who plays recreational cricket does because it rained. My god it rained! League season not starting for two weeks, games that were played were on bogs while we squelched across outfields and a winter that never ended with low temperatures well into May. Finally, as the sun came out in July and August just like all British people we lose our marbles, myself very much included in this. After so much cricket called off, I was looking for as much as I could get in during the few decent weeks weather. The way I do this is to play for Forty Club a sort of cut price MCC if you will that has similar fixtures and a much more open to anyone style of recruitment. I travel Yorkshire, the Midlands and sometimes further afield to find more cricket and bowl more overs but the more cricket you play the more chance you have of being struck by the ball especially as a bowler. It was an unusually hot sunny day I played a game against a touring cr...