By Frank McCabe
Wherever you may go in the UK, amateur sports teams share the same problems. Up and down the country at cricket grounds large and small, the same sounds can be heard at this time of year: the scowl of the groundsman as he issues grim warnings about “the amount of rain we’ve had”. The cries of a newborn child, which means a star batsman won’t be available this season. And the creaking of ageing backs that haven’t been tested since the end of September.
The increasingly unpredictable climate is a recent addition to the list of difficulties. Last year we endured the wettest March since the 1970s, and yet only two summers ago we went an unprecedented eighteen consecutive Saturdays without a drop of rain. Our lives are busier than ever, so getting eleven grown men to commit seven hours of their weekend to what is (when all’s said and done) a game, is proving increasingly hard.
Cricket is under pressure in schools (it needs a lot of land and a lot of equipment), which means the pipeline of players into local clubs has shrivelled.
And yet, we’re still here. While we can’t be complacent about our continued ability to overcome these hurdles (the nearby cricket club at Clayton folded a few years back), Keymer and Hassocks has shown remarkable resilience in its 124-year history. The club is a member of the Sussex League, the largest cricket league in the world with 330 teams competing in 34 divisions, so there is plenty of local competition for the best players. In fact, there are a few ‘away’ games this season that we could walk to if transport is scarce.
Our club, like all the others, survives because of oldfashioned selflessness. The willingness of individuals to contribute to a collective, unpaid and often unthanked. In a world that is becoming increasingly individualistic, amateur sport is a beacon of generosity and altruism. Long may it continue, come rain or shine. We hope the future custodians of the club will be wrestling with the same problems – and a few new ones no doubt – 124 years from now.