A couple of days ago, I found myself sitting at the Derbyshire County Cricket ground, in the sun and having a beer. The only thing really unusual about this was that it was still April.
I've been watching cricket for almost 50 years since my first visit to Lord's in 1962 and this, as far as I can remember, is the first time I've ever been to a County Championship match in April. In years gone by, the season used to start around 20th April; the Championship might have begun at the end of April, but teams would certainly not have played more than one match before the end of that month. Now, with the advent of the egregious 20-20, the Championship, the season starts at the end of March while the premier tournament, is relegated to April and May, August and September; the best months of June and July are reserved, almost exclusively, for knock-about games that draw the uneducated masses.
Last Wednesday was a beautiful day. The weather was fantastic, as good as July or August, and my team did well; the trouble is that this was very exceptional. More often than not April is a dull, wet and windy month, not very conducive to cricket; championship games suffer and end in draws, while the players gain no form to take forward into the rest of the season. This year, players and supporters have had an unusually clement start to the season; all any of us can do is take advantage while we can. The one-day, even the 2 or 3 hour, tripe will be on us all too soon.
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