Tags
The first day of the 2023 County Championship season. A time for a fresh start, for hope and excitement, for improvement, and, fingers crossed, a full four days of cricket. My walk to Old Trafford is twenty-five minutes at a leisurely pace, twenty at a scuttle. Today, I take it slow. The sky is clear blue though there’s a definite breeze about. Pavements are drying after overnight rain, the concrete dotted with fallen blossom and magnolia petals, also a stray carrot. I take my usual route: Oswald Road, Kensington and Great Stone, pass the roundabout, the Quadrant pub, and then the still disused former B&Q and onetime Stretford Hardrock. Bar the details of the game – opposition, minor rule tweaks and a change in overseas personnel – much about the day will be as it was twelve months earlier.
Continue reading