One of my friends plays county cricket and we usually get to meet just once a year or sometimes once in two years or so. Cricket is a gentleman's game or so they said. Well, it certainly seemed like one during my Dad's time. My friend plays a lot of rough cricket. He also plays rugby and frequently sees his team mates getting injured. He himself is also prone to a lot of injuries. His mother completely hates his love for the game and has tried to dissuade him for years from playing. This month, when my friend came home he showed a few brilliant clips from the game to his mum. Unfortunately, she wasn't impressed. So, me, my friend, his brother and a few other friends decided to play a live game for his mum. It started off brilliantly. I had forgotten the thrill and the high spirits associated with playing cricket. To view the game on TV is thrilling, but to play it in person is so much more challenging yet fun too. The last time I played cricket was when I was 12 with my cousins at my granny's home. So, all these memories came flashing by as soon as I donned the helmet and faced the bowlers. It felt so surreal facing a fast professional bowler and I felt my heart beating 200 times faster than ever.
The first 3 deliveries saw me adjusting rather clumsily to the vicious bowling attack. I even screamed in a high pitch that we were playing a friendly match. It got some reaction from the bowler who then bowled a slew of slow deliveries over which to my delight, I made runs. I hadn't realised how rusty my batting had become especially since I was playing after 15 years or so. My friend's mum enjoyed our innings and to our surprise, cheered the loudest than any other bystander. It was a great game. I loved batting and my friend, the professional player that he is, also cheered and encouraged whenever my bat made contact with the ball. I am very proud to announce I made 32 runs off 40 balls. Its fun to get run out too. The excitement, loud screams and voices on edge really added to the environment. And the celebration after the match had us all drowned in loud bouts of shouts and laughter. Oh what a day it was! My friend's mum for whom we basically played the game, thoroughly enjoyed it and in fact, I think even got over her fear and hatred for the sport. She cheered for us the loudest, moaned when we dropped catches and absolutely shouted at the top of her lungs when we did some outstanding fielding. Our mission was accomplished and we got invited for dinner and a breakfast invitation for some more cricket catching. This is one match I'll never forget. My friend is so happy and he's rest assured now that his matches will have the loudest cheers from his mum now on. This is what cricket does. We now hope to catch up on some tennis, may be on his next visit. ;)
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