As far as English cricket is concerned, at first I was an Essex fan, as they were the first team I found on the Internet radio. But commencing in 2004 with Surrey and 2005 with Middlesex, BBC London has had ball by ball commentary of all London County cricket. Which leads to how I became a Middlesex supporter.

I became a Middlesex supporter when Ed Smith joined the club in 2005.  During my formative cricket years, I read his two books: _Hard Ball_, and _On and Off the Field_. Both (especially the first) helped me gain an appreciation for cricket that was much richer than before. Like the first
baseball books I read as a youngster (Jim Brosnan's _The Long Season_ and _Pennant Race_), I was being introduced to a new sport by one of the players, who also happened to be an excellent writer.

I don't really know much about Ed Smith, except what I've read. I've only seen him play once, in a Pro40 match against Lancashire, which I watched on the computer. But he is the reason I am a Middlesex supporter. And also the reason why I awoke bleary eyed on many a morning last summer (Middlesex championship games start at 5:00 am here, and with Eddie opening the batting, I had to be up and ready. Of course, I must admit that when they lost the toss and bowled, sometimes I went back to sleep. Ditto for some of Eddie's shorter innings).

That support lead me to the MTWD bulletin board, where I met some of the most passionate fans of any sport. And I've become much more interested in Middlesex. The team has a long and storied history. It is one of two teams that play in London (just as Chicago, where I grew up, has two baseball teams). In Chicago, the team on the North End of the city is followed by a mostly middle and upper class base, with many people who just go to the games for the purpose of being seen. The team on the South End of the city has more of a working class following, being located in a working class neighborhood. In Chicago, you support one team or the other, never both. Is that how it is in London?  [Editor’s note: Is the Pope a Catholic?  Does a bear sh*t in the woods?  Is a pigs a*se pork?  Actually, some cricket lovers support and even are members of both clubs, but it is rare.]

I find that one cannot follow the fortunes of a cricket side without being inexorably drawn into the drama. And so now that I'm hooked on Middlesex, I will probably stay with them even after Eddie leaves. [Editor’s Note: Jack, congratulations, you are MTYD].  Whatever the team, cricket is the greatest bat and ball sport I've ever seen.

It is astonishing that a sport demands concentration and solid fundamental play over a period of hours or days in order to procure a single victory. I find it endlessly refreshing that in order to succeed with the bat, you have to bat a long time and "hit 'em where they ain't" (to paraphrase the 19th Century baseballer Wee Willie Keeler), rather than try to hit the ball a mile every time up. I find it astonishing that bowlers are expected to deliver what would amount to 2 complete baseball games in a period of 4 days (baseballers do that in a period of 8 days), for the reward of maybe 3 to 6 wickets. The feats of concentration in cricket are almost unbelievable.

As a softball player, I spent many innings in the outfield while the opposition was scoring 4 or 5 runs (a "big inning" in baseball parlance). These innings seemed endless, sometimes 15 to 20 minutes, and sometimes, while silently cursing my pitcher, I would lose track of how many outs there were. Recently, in a Pura Cup match in Perth, Chis Rogers and Marcus North added 398 runs for the 3rd wicket for Western Australia v Victoria. They were together for about 6 hours. I can't imagine what it must have been like to be in the field for those six hours, wondering when, if ever, a wicket would fall.

In short, I love the game. I love Middlesex. I love West Indies. I can't imagine how much fun it will be when my teams win a couple of games!
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