The ultimate catch

Fortunately throughout my life I have never been someone who has given much thought to their age. Why should I? There is nothing I can do about it. There may have been times when I had wished I had been a little bit older, so that I may have enjoyed more of the 60s music scene or younger so that I could still be playing as much sport as I used to do, but overall I am pretty satisfied with the hand that I have been dealt.

That said, a friend and I were recently debating the favourite county cricket matches which we had seen in our teens. I casually mentioned how I was looking forward to spending the odd day or two reliving those times slumped in a deckchair, with thermos and sarnies watching the county games in my retirement. Not only did it dawn on me that retirement is now considerably closer than I had realised but the way the game is going there may very well be no proper county cricket played by the time I do pack up the day job. From delight to despair in a matter of seconds.

It is understandable that the bean counters should want to maximise the revenue from the 20-20 game but the 5 day test match is to my mind the blue riband of cricket and the only way players can learn how to play that type of game is through playing the 3 day game.

I still enjoy the one day game and I can appreciate the 20-20 version as a spectacle but I don't like the pyjamas and razzamattaz that goes with it. Each of the versions of the game has their own set of technical demands and strategies and not every player is capable of adapting their game to suit each discipline. It is a bit like expecting a derby runner to win the Grand National or Usain Bolt to be equally as adept at running the marathon.

In my club cricketing days we used to put a team into the evening knockout tournament which was a 20 over cup competition for clubs in the area. As both player and spectator it was always enjoyable to be play on a beautiful ground on a warm July evening while watching the sunset. Availability apart no club could ever play their full 1^st XI and in our case there were at least 2 players who were deemed ineligible for selection on grounds that the game would be over before they had finished kitting themselves up with their usual array of liniments, bandages and additional padding.

This conversation has played on my mind for several days now and though it has been great to rekindle the memories of watching my boyhood heroes there is a nagging doubt in my mind that there will be a yawning gap in my retirement if I can't perambulate the boundary and sit in the sun listening to the thud of ball on willow.