A QUIET DEPARTURE...
So, Summer slides reluctantly into Autumn and with it the cricket season seems to shrug its shoulders and give way to football. To be fair to the authorities, there has been some cricket to enjoy, at least on television, but it almost feels like a lost summer. To me, cricket is summer and it`s also a part of me, so I make no apology for posting once more about the beautiful and most companionable of games.
And it was with more than a tinge of regret that I read the reports about Ian Bell`s intention to retire from the game at the end of the season, which is almost upon us. He has been one of Warwickshire and England`s most prolific, elegant and consistent performers over a long career which began over 20 years ago. In all, he scored over 7,000 runs in his 118 Test matches; over 5,000 in ODI games; over 20,000 in first class county matches and over 11,000 in List A games. He scored almost 100 centuries in all competitions, along with an astonishing 160 half centuries That`s some record and the game will be the poorer for his decision to retire.
You can`t blame him really - he`s 38 now and has said that he knew the time was right for him to go, conceding that his body could not cope with the demands put upon it any more. I know the feeling. I played most of my own cricket in my teens and early twenties so I know what it`s like to hang the bat up and kiss the game goodbye. The difference is, of course, that Bell`s record is not only of the highest order but also consigns my own to the realms of pathos, if not advanced ineptitude.
But I can at least claim to have achieved a degree of consistency by reaching the club`s target of 100 runs and 10 wickets in each of five seasons. It may only have been village club cricket but it was as important to me as Bell`s heroics have been to him. And I was as proud to be asked to captain the village team as he was to represent his country.
He has had many golden days when everything went right - I had a golden game once, scoring 50 and taking 5 for 9. In normal circumstances that may have been enough to persuade me to retire on a high but in reality it was being whisked away for National Service, followed by husband-ship and parenthood that thwarted my return to the crease. But I still I look back on that game and those days under the Kent sunshine with such affection - it`s what the game does to you and gives you something to hold on to when the playing days come to and end.
My other sadness for Ian Bell is that his departure has been met quietly - perhaps too quietly for one of England cricket`s true heroes. Not much fuss in the media and no-one in the empty ground at Swansea`s Sophia Gardens to see his 160th half century just a couple of days ago. A quiet departure to a career that will long be remembered.
STOP PRESS : And it looks as though half century 161 might be on the cards as Bell was 46 not out at lunch today.
STOP STOP PRESS : Hes just been bowled for 90 in his last innings. Quite and exit !
And it was with more than a tinge of regret that I read the reports about Ian Bell`s intention to retire from the game at the end of the season, which is almost upon us. He has been one of Warwickshire and England`s most prolific, elegant and consistent performers over a long career which began over 20 years ago. In all, he scored over 7,000 runs in his 118 Test matches; over 5,000 in ODI games; over 20,000 in first class county matches and over 11,000 in List A games. He scored almost 100 centuries in all competitions, along with an astonishing 160 half centuries That`s some record and the game will be the poorer for his decision to retire.
You can`t blame him really - he`s 38 now and has said that he knew the time was right for him to go, conceding that his body could not cope with the demands put upon it any more. I know the feeling. I played most of my own cricket in my teens and early twenties so I know what it`s like to hang the bat up and kiss the game goodbye. The difference is, of course, that Bell`s record is not only of the highest order but also consigns my own to the realms of pathos, if not advanced ineptitude.
But I can at least claim to have achieved a degree of consistency by reaching the club`s target of 100 runs and 10 wickets in each of five seasons. It may only have been village club cricket but it was as important to me as Bell`s heroics have been to him. And I was as proud to be asked to captain the village team as he was to represent his country.
He has had many golden days when everything went right - I had a golden game once, scoring 50 and taking 5 for 9. In normal circumstances that may have been enough to persuade me to retire on a high but in reality it was being whisked away for National Service, followed by husband-ship and parenthood that thwarted my return to the crease. But I still I look back on that game and those days under the Kent sunshine with such affection - it`s what the game does to you and gives you something to hold on to when the playing days come to and end.
My other sadness for Ian Bell is that his departure has been met quietly - perhaps too quietly for one of England cricket`s true heroes. Not much fuss in the media and no-one in the empty ground at Swansea`s Sophia Gardens to see his 160th half century just a couple of days ago. A quiet departure to a career that will long be remembered.
STOP PRESS : And it looks as though half century 161 might be on the cards as Bell was 46 not out at lunch today.
STOP STOP PRESS : Hes just been bowled for 90 in his last innings. Quite and exit !
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