A firm foundation is important for everything in life.
And so it was that my grandson’s first experience of watching cricket was a session of a county championship game played at Taunton in 2023 – a day made special, not so much by the coronation of King Charles, but by Tom Kohler-Cadmore completing his maiden century for Somerset.
But that was two years ago and now, having got to grips with the complexities of the lbw law, learnt to appreciate the beauty of an expansive cover drive, and developed the necessary wisdom to be able to set a field for a slow left armer bowling to an right-handed batsmen in need of quick runs, it seemed the right time for the now three year old to be exposed to a shorter format of the game.
Even so, like the fun-loving illegitimate child born to one of more noble birth, T20 fixtures can be both wild and unpredictable affairs and, attending a game should not therefore be undertaken lightly.
Thorough preparation is therefore essential.
And so I taught him how, should a lone trumpeter cause a few plaintive notes to echo across the ground, in order to avoid the scorn of those around him, he ought to offer by up a Pavlovian cheer in response. I taught him how he should take cover if he should become the target of an unprovoked attack by those who saw fit to throw unwanted merchandise at him. And I taught him the vagaries of DLS just in case bad weather intervened and he was called upon to come up with a revised target for the team batting second.
And so the great day arrived, and together we made our way to the ground, my young companion carrying the vintage Somerset flag that I provided him with, my own cherished relic of a bygone season that, despite its poor quality and basic design, I’d somehow never got round to disposing of.
Before taking our seats we took a tour of the ground, hoping for an glimpse of Tom Banton – the wicket keeper/batsmen being a particular favourite with my grandson ever since he’d seen him hobble onto the field of play after last summer’s epic match against Surrey. Little wonder that earlier this season, when his hero scored that triple century, he named his cuddly toy monkey after the great man.
Though we didn’t spot him warming up, it turns out that wearing wicket keeping gloves makes you particularly salient and easy for even a three year old to spot. And so it was that throughout Kent’s innings I was repeatedly told of Tom’s whereabouts which was alway, you won’t be surprised to hear, behind the stumps where a wicket keeper is want to be.
Kent finished on 228-5, my grandson enjoying, a little too much for my liking, celebrating each boundary by waving one of those cards in order to indicate the exact number of runs scored. The other highlight of the Kent innings was, perhaps predictably, Tom Banton’s catch to remove Bell-Drummond for an excellent 100 from just 49 balls.
And yes he was caught behind!
Somerset started well in their innings, with much for all Banton fans to enjoy. Certainly his 68 from 33 balls, which included six sixes and five fours, made one little boy very happy.
The match ended well past my fellow supporter’s bedtime, with Somerset not quite able to get over the line, thus affording the opportunity for another important lesson to be learned – that cricket can be enjoyed even when your team loses.
But any disappointment that my grandson may have felt having seen Somerset defeated was more than compensated for when, now in his pyjamas and ready for the long drive home, he was able to meet his hero, get his autograph and tell him the name of his toy monkey!
And to be told by Tom that the next time he comes to a game, he should bring it with him so that the two can get acquainted!
Thank you Somerset CCC and Tom Banton. You gave one little boy a great day out this weekend.
Other blogs about formative cricketing experiences:
To read ‘Sharing the important things: on introducing your grandchild to cricket’, click here
To read ‘Cigarettes, Singles, and Sipping Tea with Ian Botham: Signs of a Well Spent Youth!’, click here
To read ‘A Historic Day’, click here
Other cricket related posts:
This season:
To read ‘The Dead County Championship Sketch’, click here
To read ‘Importantly…why cricket doesn’t matter’, click here
To read ‘I Spy Somerset’s 150th Anniversary Season’, click here
To read ‘A Spring Watch’, click here
Last seasons’s cricketing blogs:
To read ‘Reasons to be cheerful’, click here
To read ‘First of the Summer Wine’, click here
To read ‘Safe and Sound at the County Ground, Taunton’, click here
To read ‘Is Cricket Amusing Itself to Death’, click here
To read ‘A Purr-fect day at the cricket’, click here
To read ‘Worth Every Penny’, click here
To read ‘The Somerset Cricket Emporium – 2024’, click here
To read ‘One Fine Day’, click here
To read ‘WWFD – what would Freddie do?’, click here
To read ‘A Shady News Story’, click here
To read ‘The Abolition of County Cricket’, click here
Cricketing blogs from 2023:
To read ‘20 Things we have learnt this summer’, click here
To read ‘When rain stops play’, click here
To read ‘Only a game’, click here
To read ‘The Hundred: is cricket amusing itself to death?’, click here
To read ‘The Somerset Cricket Emporium – 2023’, click here
To read ‘for the third time of asking, CRICKET’S COMING HOME…surely’, click here
To read ‘Twas the week of the final’, click here
To read ‘Sharing the important things: on introducing your grandchild to cricket’, click here
To read ‘Somerset v Nottinghamshire T20 Quarter Final 2023’, click here
To read ‘Breaking News’, click here
To read ‘Lewis Calpaldi – Retired Hurt?’, click here
To read ‘Cricket: It’s All About Good Timing’, click here
To read ‘Bazball, Bazchess, Bazlife’, click here
To read ‘Online criticism: it’s just not cricket’, click here
To read ‘Cigarettes, Singles, and Sipping Tea with Ian Botham: Signs of a Well Spent Youth!’, click here
To read ‘A Historic Day’, click here
To read ‘Cricket – through thick and thin’, click here
To read ‘Stumpy: A Legend Reborn’, click here
To read ‘my love is NOT a red, red rose’, click here
Cricketing blogs from previous years:
To read ‘A Cricketing Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story’, click here
To read ‘Scooby Doo and the Mystery of the Deseted Cricket Ground’, click here
To read ‘Brian and Stumpy visit The Repair Shop’, click here
To read ‘A Tale of Two Tons’, click here
To read ‘A Song for Brian’, click here
To read ‘A Somerset Cricket Players Emporium 2022’ click here
To read ‘A Cricket Taunt’, click here
To read ‘A Song for Brian’, click here
To read ‘At Season’s End’, click here
To read ‘A Day at the Cricket’, click here
To read ‘The Great Cricket Sell Off’, click here
To read ‘On passing a village cricket club at dusk one late November afternoon’ click here
To read ‘How the Grinch stole from county cricket…or at least tried to’. click here
To read ‘How Covid-19 stole the the cricket season’, click here
To read ‘A Cricket Tea Kind of a Day’, click here
To read ‘Life in the slow lane’, click here
To read ‘Frodo and the Format of Power’, click here
To read ‘If Only’, click here
To read ‘I’ve got a little CRICKET list’, click here
To read ‘Eve of the RLODC limericks’ click here
To read ‘It’s coming home…’, click here
To read ‘A Song for Ben Green’, click here
To read ‘Enough Said…’, the last section of which is cricket related, click here
A Jack Leach Trilogy:
To read ‘For when we can’t see why’, click here
To read ‘WWJD – What would Jack Do?’, click here
To read ‘On Playing a Blinder’, click here
To read ‘Coping with Disappointment’, click here
And to finish – a couple with a theological flavour
To read ‘Somerset CCC – Good for the soul’, click here
To read ‘Longing for the pavilion whilst enjoying a good innings’, click here
Some musings 