What better way to spend your Saturday and or Sunday afternoon, and or Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday evening than standing in the sun watching a ball go past you?

And coaching on a Monday, and coaching and or watching your local county side on a Friday evening.

Oh great, that’s all weekday evenings and both days of the weekend ticked off from April-September every year-ideal!!

I slightly joke, but seriously this is my life currently, plus bonus cricket commentary and netting and playing touring games multiple weekdays too. I didn’t even properly get into cricket until first playing the men’s weekend game from 13-14 years-old. But have made up for it since.I just can’t get enough of it. But why should you follow my love for the quintessentially British summer sport?

I have made some of the bizarrest of connections through cricket, work opportunities, lifelong friends and my entire summer social life have been created through cricket. Not everyone does, and you should not be pressured to feel the need to do so, but when the opportunities arise, why not take them head on?

You spend a lot of time together on a weekend afternoon, often toiling in the dirt to break a seemingly unbreakable partnership, and this often brings out the worst in us. But also it can embolden connections between people of varying ages and backgrounds. I personally have made some cracking friendships with those 30 or even 40 years older than myself who I’ll go and play golf or chat in the pub with based upon friendships made in the covers or as a batting partnership on the field.

Football, rugby, hockey et al do not last long enough to have deep and meaningful conversations (DMCs) but there are opportunities aplenty to have these during a cricket match. Boundary bowls is the best opportunity of all for these. You really can open up about anything on a cricket field, before, after and during play. Cricket poses great opportunities to get people talking.