No cricket fan is the same

When you grow up with a Dad who you love and who loves you and loves cricket, then somehow I think you end up loving cricket. Well that’s my experience, although it could also be something to do with having a life size cardboard cut-out of Ian Botham in our hallway… This is how it was in my childhood home, family photos and works of art squeezed in between prints, books and other cricket memorabilia.

Ian in the hallway was quite a remarkable sight and he in return saw much of my formative years as I went from an eight year old through teenagehood and onto University until he went into official retirement in my parents house, hitting that lofty four for the last time.

But his legacy remains and the love of this beautiful game continues to be central to my life.

What I love is that if you look at the YouGuv profile, then hardly suprisingly I’m not your typical cricket fan (male, 55+, drives a BMW) but that doesn’t matter. We aren’t the same and our differences and the fact that we love different aspects of the game are what makes cricket so special.

You might be into the short sharp slap of a T20, more of a county championship enthusiast or a ‘traditionalist’ who just loves Test cricket. Whatever it is that cricket means to you, whoever you are, whatever you look like, whatever you do, wherever you live, whether you are a member of a county, the Barmy Army or the MCC – join today, get involved and have your say in our launch survey.

Ben Stokes: ‘Test Cricket is the pinnacle’

The new England vice-captain can be found on www.ecb.co.uk talking about Test Cricket and the importance of the fan to the game.

“Test cricket is the pinnacle and we need people to fall in love with it again. We need to win but we want to perform in a manner that makes people want to come and watch us.

“We want to be positive, aggressive and always on the front foot. If we do that then we will get those performances. The team we have is full of natural entertainers. We need them to perform like they did for their counties, that’s why they got there in the first place.”

In the interview, Stokes is looking back to the Test against New Zealand at Lord’s in May 2015 – a stonker of a match which saw thousands of fans including lots of kids queuing for a ticket on the final day.

Stokes went onto say, “I’d never seen it like that. There had been runs galore in those first four days, something was always happening – people wanted to see us play exciting cricket.

I will always remember that, we got people to notice Test cricket and we need to do that again”.

Is Test cricket the pinnacle for you? Get involved and let us know what you think.

The full interview can be read here: https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/333399