If someone said to me a couple of years ago that the England football team would reach the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup and I was asked what I anticipated Joe Hart would be doing when the match took place, I would have said that surely Hart would be playing in goal for England in said match. However,
Hart yesterday spent the day playing for Shrewsbury CC and didn’t watch the football.
Although the days are over whereby someone can play professional cricket in the summer and professional football in the winter, it is still possible for a youngster to be considered capable of playing professionally in both sports and to possibly be involved in an academy in both sports. There are a few players around who have been in this situation. Not everyone opts for football, as I am sure that a few current cricketers have been in football academies. However, whereas in the old days a player could play cricket in summer and football in winter, nowadays they have to make a decision at some point in their teen years as to which sport to pursue.
Damien D’Oliveira felt that Hart could have lead the Worcesetershire bowling attack, although Hart eventually opted for football. I know that it was thought that Phil Neville could have played cricket at a high level, but he eventually opted for football. I am sure he once said that he would like to return to club cricket upon retiring from playing football, but that seems unlikely considering he now manages England Women and also does punditry.