English Weather Robbed me of Happiness3 min read

So the Cricket World Cup is in full swing and to my delight, it’s being hosted in England & Wales.

The last time the World Cup was hosted in Britain, I wasn’t even born yet and India won their first trophy with Kapil Dev as captain.

35 years on, the Blues have managed to build yet another World Class side that is undefeated in the tournament (touchwood).

Along with India, other countries have turned up with good squads including the hosts England, breaking multiple records.

Going to a live cricket match has always been a dream of mine but it feels impossible to get tickets with the current ballot system.

You need the right luck, especially if you’re support India, to get a ticket as they sell out almost immediately.

Some say that passion gets you the tickets, but I say money and quick finger reflexes allows a lot of Asians to watch World Cup.

It has always shocked me how Cricket is not as popular in the country that invented it – more and more English people prefer football and rugby as they feel like cricket is a boring, elitist game.

I don’t blame them. The state of the sport in this country is exactly as they describe it. English county cricket is mind-numbing and catered to the rich.

Despite this, Britain’s colonies have adopted cricket as a primary sport that people from any background can get into.

A regular match between India and Pakistan gets the most views on TV than any other sport on the planet.

You can see the difference in the crowds and how it has an effect on the quality of the game.

Asian fan cams are the funniest as there’s always a few goofballs dressing up and dancing in the stands.

This Summer could’ve potentially been the best summer of my life. Through a friend, my dad managed to bag two tickets to India v New Zealand.

We were supposed to travel to Trent Bridge in Nottingham, but my dad broke the news to me the night before. To my disappointment, he returned the tickets back to his friend.

I was at boiling point as soon as he told me, knowing that I wouldn’t get an opportunity like this until I had kids of my own.

“Why?” I asked him softly. Conveniently it was due to rain the whole week, which is bad in the world of cricket.

It’s as if the sky knew everyone was enjoying the heat in June and decided to switch sides.

In order to play cricket, the pitch must be maintained in an optimum dry condition for the benefit of bowling. When it’s raining, the pitch is covered to make sure it doesn’t get damaged.

Basically, cork pulp ball – hard pitch = no bounce. SHAMBOLIC PLAYING CONDITIONS.

Of course, after a while if the rain stops, then the match can continue. However, in consistent rain, matches are abandoned, points a split and everyone has to go back home.

On Thursday 13^th June 2019, the match a Trent Bridge between India and New Zealand was abandoned…so was my heart that day.

It’s funny because literally days after, the clouds cleared up.

I hate English weather.

Photo by Alessandro Bogliari on Unsplash