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Seems a pretty good sport.
Playing or spectatating? If the latter, listen to it on the radio - worked for me.
RM.
Playing. Pop along to your local club say you’re interested. I keep getting asked to join one of the local teams but as of yet not taken it up. I have started to help coach a girls team though.
Watching? Get some beers in, fire up the (gas) BBQ and settle in - this option may work better when it's free to air TV.
Test match special on the Radio is worth it but never really just about the cricket
As for watching probably head to a T20 game and see how that goes
Loads of good local league grounds a few train stops away.
Not the same without beer and a newspaper.
Take a hat.
Aim to be pleasantly pissed, utterly dehydrated yet still bursting for a wee on the train home.
If you remember who won, it's a bonus.
I’d wait until next year as everyone from anywhere half respectable will be too busy watching their country in the World Cup.
Fall asleep ...
are you scottish by any chance - great result yesterday and hope it makes the ODI powers reflect.
Serious answer then, as it's a sport I love as both an (ex) player and a spectator. Do you want to play or just watch?
If the former - clearly season is here but sides are always looking for players, a tour of your area (which is, by the way?...... as that also reflects on the answer to part 2) should find you a few clubs from village green to large sports clubs. Then get their number, and rock up to a net session with a pair of trainers and your own box to start with, the rest someone will loan you (if someone offers to loan you their box, politely decline....)
The village club might initially seem the better bet and it might be depending what you want from it; but the big sports club (in my area Guildford, Wimbledon, Banstead, Reigate, etc.) all run several sides and have better facilities and likely to have proper coaching too if you want to actually learn how to do it properly. On the other hand, at village level you'll probably get a game for the 2's at the weekend and can learn on the hoof..... and score more than 10 and you could be opening the batting for the 1's the week after 😉
If the latter...... pick a ground with a nice view, a good bar, and what looks like a lively social section and settle in with newspaper and a pint (the paper's for putting on your head on that rare occasion the sun shines and you didn't bring suncream) It seems some sections of the country still have a stronger social aspect to cricket - Yorks, Lancs and west country in particular still take the watching of local league cricket quite seriously - whereas in the busier home counties if you choose the wrong team to watch, you can very easily turn up to watch, be spotted as becoming regular (ie going a second time) and thereafter be coerced into becoming the fill in player for the 2's. And recycle to that section again.......
And finally, watching or playing, it's all about timing. You hit the ball hard by not trying to hit it hard. More importantly, when watching you need a sense of timing so you can 'just know' when to look up from your book / paper / conversation to watch the 3 seconds of action that occurs every 20s, and then go back to your book. I've read a whole novel and not missed a single ball of play before.
Get used to zoning out.
It's "a game that goes on for three days but never seems to start" (Bill Bryson).
Bats are surprisingly expensive.
“a game that goes on for three days but never seems to start”
And then it ends in a draw, wtf?
at least they all seem to get a nice lunch....
are you scottish by any chance
With a username like that you had better be.....
Any Weegie who likes cricket is to be treated with the utmost suspicion. It's just not right.
I knew a guy who played cricket for Scotland. He was so embarrassed he played he kept it a secret from friends.
Simple answer 'Beer'
I played at school, and then stopped for years.
I ended up starting again through just having a knockabout in the local park and then volunteering to play for my work team. You gradually pick it up and, if you're a complete novice, someone will always happily point out your errors.. 😉
When I moved house, I looked around for a local village team that welcomed newcomers, and joined up. Been playing for them for a few years now, though mostly only midweek matches - I think I've done one 'proper' Saturday league match. I think I'm comfortably the worst player on the pitch most matches - my highest score is 10no, and when I reached that point I got a standing ovation from my teammates in the pavilion.
Our club does regular net sessions and has professional and amateur coaches, so they're happy to help technique etc, but speaking as someone who never really learnt the proper techniques for both batting and bowling, it's probably better to get some professional coaching earlier rather than later so you don't get into bad habits (like me).
It's a bit like MTB in that you can spot a newbie a mile off - the cricket equivalent of a Halfords bike is a cheap Sports Direct bat and whites, but after a while you stop caring. You can spend hundreds on a bat and the proper kit though. I've mostly accumulated mine from mates and the odd bit here and there. Depending on where you are, there's probably a proper, old-school sports shop that does cricket kit - there's usually one that serves a largish area - so go in on a weekday and get them to give you help picking a bat (weekends are usually heaving with parents buying kit for kids!).
Good luck!