Last year my son decided to give cricket a go. He knew absolutely nothing about the sport, in fact, he was asking whether it involved home runs! But his friend was keen to join a local club so he decided to give it a go to see whether it’d be something he’d enjoy.
I can confirm, he enjoyed it.
He enjoyed it from pretty much the first training session and was soon committing to playing matches weekly too. We bought him the equipment, we took him to matches and we supported his new found love.
And I feel it’s a love that will continue for a long time, and I do hope so.
I see that it’s good for him.
He’s made new friends quickly and looks forward to seeing them each week.
We all know that team games and sport are good for kids. Along with keeping him active and happy, he’s learning new skills and team building. There’s a lovely camaraderie at his club, we’re happy to have chosen it for him.
Last year he went to several matches at Edgbaston, supporting our local teams in the T20 and The Hundred.
For Christmas we bought him a Junior Bears membership so he has plenty of games to look forward to and he’s just ordered himself the Bears shirt to show his support.
This year we’ve already arranged his birthday treat, many months in advance, as there happens to be an England IT20 cricket match on his birthday so we’ve bought tickets for us all to go along to that, with his best friend, and they’re both already excited.
Last year as a beginner he had a club t-shirt and wore that with joggers for his games. This year he’s moving up and into a league so needs Whites. They arrived a couple of weeks ago.
His first match of the season is this evening.
It does make me happy that his home games will be played over the road from us this season, unlike last year. I can stroll over with a cuppa and if it rains, come home to shelter!
As he plays in the team with his closest friend, it does mean that it becomes a relaxed social event for me. His mum and I lift share to away games and sit chatting throughout the couple of hours or so that a match lasts. It’s definitely not a bad way to spend a summer’s evening, and cricket is a relaxing game to watch. I do feel it’s a better gig that standing on the side-lines watching rugby in the pouring rain in January!
All this is to say that cricket is a big thing in our house.
Do I like cricket?
I guess if you’d asked me a year ago, the answer would have been no. But having spent last season watching my son’s love for the game develop and having watched a fair few matches over the year, it is actually growing on me. How can I not like something that makes my son so happy?
Let the cricket season commence!