Middlesex CCC
Everything in moderation, including moderation.
I can drive a tractor.
By New Boy 2
February 17 2022
Who is the mystery moderator? Some is revealed here, but not all...
On the one hand, what does it matter who has their hands on the tiller of this website as long as it keeps going and is available for all to use.
On the other hand, we all want to know who is hiding behind the Wizard of Oz' curtain. Or something like that. As your new moderator, I feel an introduction is in order. Plus I needed to publish an article this weekend so here it is.
My name is Peter and I should warn you that I am not a real Middlesex supporter. In fact, you could go back a few years and I wasn't a supporter at all.
I was born and raised in Devon. My father was a supporter of Plymouth Argyle and Somerset CCC. For a reason we never managed to resolve, he didn't take me to see his favourite teams so I didn't become a fan of either of them. I left Devon and moved to London in 1980, my working life taking me into into the television, travel and mobile telephony industries over the next almost-40-years. I retired in August 2018 just before I would have been expected to work on a project installing 5G networks across the country for one of the big four mobile providers. Far too much stress!
When I wasn't working I didn't have any trouble finding football matches to watch on a Saturday afternoon: there was always an interesting game going on somewhere in London. Cricket, however was a different matter altogether. For some unfathomable reason, while I loved watching Test match cricket on the telly I didn't manage to progress to attending any domestic matches. From 1996 onwards I was one of a group of about five friends who went to the Trent Bridge Test match every year. And if there wasn't one in Nottingham then we went to Old Trafford, Edgbaston or Chester-le-Street. We even went to Headingly one year. Then during the 2010s the appeal of test cricket started to wane. I didn't feel I was getting value for money, while I also felt there were too many supporters who went for the status and the drinking rather than watching the cricket. I needed to move to a form of the game that was quieter and less contaminated by marketing.
Once I was close to retirement I realised I would have plenty of time to devote to watching county cricket; so in 2017 I bought a membership for Middlesex. By that time I was living in Hertfordshire, not that far north of Radlett, so Lord's was one of the easier grounds to get to. It wasn't simply location: I was living in Chiswick in 1997 and bought a membership that year. I must have managed no more than three days at Lord's so I didn't renew but I felt a slight affinity with the club.
It completely missed me that I was going to see the current County Champions when I rocked up for my first game in 2017. It was a bit discombobulating at first because I didn't have a clue who most of the players were. Obviously I knew Steven Finn, and I'd heard of Toby Roland-Jones. A few other names were familiar but I wasn't sure if Sam Robson was the Robson I knew or not. I needed a Playfair Cricket Annual, which thankfully helped me familiarise myself with who was who.
This will be my sixth year as a member and I feel like I belong. Clearly not like those of you who have been supporting The Middle for decades and know who Lenny is, but I now know the players and I even know some of the names on the EPP squad. I tend to watch from the Warner Stand upper section. I always spend at last one day per season in a jacket and tie just to experience the Pavilion. That said, I would rather watch casually from the Warner, not least because I can then spend the evening session in the Compton Stand basking in the sun. I usually keep myself to myself, however I am going to have to say hello to Kev next time I see him and than I suspect I might be encouraged to be a lot more sociable.
Time will tell.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022:04:03:18:11:23 by New Boy 2.
Like you I generally keep my own company at games, but if I recognise you I will introduce my-self.
MB
Thanks and good luck, New Boy 2.
Adelaide
Good luck Mr Moderator.
It can of course only take one...
Adelaide
I too have never posted before but have followed for years & get some informative stuff.
I cant see any reason why people cant respect each other,after all we all have same aim-to see MCCC play decent cricket
Born and raised in North London I finally planted my roots here in Northamptonshire.
Mainly due to a pretty young lady
Me a chum from Luton normally make it to Lords/Radlett etc quite a few times
in the year to bask in the sun and the glory of my home county.
Being in my 60s I can still see the appeal of County games as well as the
Hit and Giggle white ball game which fills the grounds every year.
I know, its money...
Anyway great to have you on board and the best of luck for the year.
