Life is like cricket, you sometimes score sixes or you get your off stump knocked over...

Over the years as I developed my enthusiasm for the game of cricket I started to see some similarities to cricket as I see in life in general. For example, when you play cricket you win some and you lose some (games). One day you can be so happy its like you are whacking Muralitharan or Warney for 6's, or you could be so down in the dumps that it feels like you are constantly getting bowled by a complete novice bowler. Or another analogy I've had thoughts of is like when you are happy you think of your home country thrashing the Aussies (for so long they have been dominant in world cricket) by more than an innings in a test and experiencing similar feelings to the elation the winning team would feel, or when you are sad its like if your team, for example, a known test nation like New Zealand, gets thrashed by more than an innings by perhaps a non test playing team such as Bermuda or even the USA.

Confidence and self esteem is one of the many things that drives us forward and motivates us to succeed in what we pursue. It is also how we pick up ourselves from catastrophic lows and maintain ourselves at the heights of happiness that defines our character. When I relate this to cricket I see a team that has been bowled out well short of a follow-on and they take either two paths: No#1- Sit around and do nothing and dig yourself into an even deeper hole, or no#2- Seek help and advice and work with yourself to climb yourself out of a very precarious situation (and perhaps win despite being forced to "follow on"). You see some cricketing teams get bogged down in examples like this, some just get conprehensively walloped and some do make a miraculous comeback and win, despite being made to follow on. Also as in cricket, you use the help and guidance of people around you to help yourself "win" instead of "lose". A cricket team is like a family or a group of closely-knit friends, they are there to help you through things and to perhaps improve yourself as a person, as you would do with your own cricketing techniques.

I see cricket as a good way to improve your life. For example there is a cricket team from Compton in Los Angeles USA called The Homiez and The Popz(I have done a post earlier this year that talks a bit about them). A few years ago their team members were gang associates, habitual drug users, even thiefs and ones having numerous other criminal records. Thanks to cricket their lives have perhaps taken a turn for the better. They have even been to the home country of cricket (England) and are working on going to Australia to play some teams there. Cricket has taught them self respect, respect in others, patience, and it takes them away from the often violent worlds they came from. Ted Hayes is their manager and from the work he has done with the team he appears to be infusing the team members with the values, virtues and life skills the game of cricket embodies.

It is from this little piece I have written that I see that cricket does indeed have a valuable place in society. It is up to us to enthusiastically embrace the game and maintain its values for other generations to come, so that cricket will maintain its unique place in history and remain a legacy.