The year is about to begin, and I can’t wait.
No, I don’t mean January 1st, with its post-Christmas dirge and the countdown to going back to work. That has come and gone without so much as a murmur.
What I’m looking forward to are the initial stuttering steps in the run-up of the year – the first Clapham In CC winter nets of 2020.
That first net gives me the chance to shake out the cobwebs of the winter season by charging in for an hour or so and putting the world to rights (despite the ‘Goodman line’ and the inevitable reminder that I’m a year further past my prime.)
There will be a chance to see if I can remember which end of the bat to hold, and rash shots played without fear of repercussion that won’t resemble anything that happens in the season itself. Add in a few beers in the Lords Academy bar (before and after), a dash for the train and a familiar set of aches and pains the next day.
Repeat that pattern for about eight weeks with increasing returns, and watch the season build from there, drawing closer and closer to that hallowed institution of the Clapham calendar – the tour to Goodrich in April – when we will be back at full pace.
Our Fixtures List for the year is just about full (Great work, Hedge!) and I’m already picturing the grounds, thinking about past heroics and our friendly rivalries with the opposition.
This year will have particular meaning as I’m stepping out for the first time as Captain of this club that I love. I will have a responsibility to CICC players, old and new, to strike the right balance between the laughs and the killer instinct. To give everyone a game and to play the game in the right spirit. To make each match something that we can all look forward to and then reminisce about in the cold dark winter months. I’m proud to have that chance this year.
I’m old enough that it is a struggle to remember the excitement of Christmas morning – but something about crossing the boundary at Goodrich makes me feel like a kid again. The promise of the season ahead, with resolutions made and broken, imagined victories and dreaded defeats. Beers in the sun, long hours standing in the field, and spells running in up-hill through the wind and the rain. I’m looking forward to it all.
I didn’t grow up with this cycle, and maybe that makes the build up to the cricket season all the more magical. But it is now part of who I am, and I’m grateful for it.
The 2020 CICC season is about to properly begin.
And I just can’t wait.
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If you’re new to the London area and looking for a club, just getting back into the game, or have never tried cricket and want to, we’d love to have you as part of the team.
Drop us an email on claphamincc at gmail.com and we’ll be in touch with details.
