February: The Calm Before the Storm?
- Liv
- Feb 5
- 5 min read
And all of a sudden, it’s looking like the season starts in 10 weeks.
Not to panic you.. but that’s 10 more cricket-free weekends if you’re lucky!
I worked it out last night and I’ve actually only got 9. And then the friendlies start. And you’re never going to believe this- the first weekend of friendlies is a double header.
Who in their right mind?!
Yep, Tyler. Yep, he’s captain this year. Yep, he’s back at our home club.
And yet part of me feels like I’m going to see him even less than when he was driving to Liverpool every weekend haha.
At least I can be on the boundary for a wave every weekend! 😂
But back to it.. on average, probably 10 weekends. And this isn’t me sending you into a panic. It’s more of a gentle heads-up to make the most of them. Yes, the weather’s a bit rotten, but don’t let that stop you using these weekends to do things YOU want to do.
There’s also an early Easter bank holiday in there, which feels like a real opportunity for us CWs to either book a long weekend away or properly make the most of a cricket-free Easter. That weekend is officially looking like the farewell weekend- so I’m telling you now, make it a good one.
Captain.. CW perks or punishment?!..
Being captain is another layer I don’t think I was quite prepared for. I feel like a lot of us have experienced being a CW to a cricket captain at some point, and this year it’s Tyler’s first ever season in that role.
For some reason I thought, ooo maybe he’ll be able to miss a training here and there without having to answer to his captain.. and I honestly don’t know why I thought that. I’m captain of my hockey team and I don’t operate like that myself. I never miss training (only for a cheeky ski trip) because you want to set the standard and lead by example- so why I expected anything different from him, I don’t know!
I think I just hoped that with cricket being a whole other level of commitment there might be a some flexibility in there. Anyway. Hey ho.
What I also wasn’t quite prepared for was the amount of admin that comes before the season even starts. I’ve been captain for four years now so my pre-season planning kind of runs itself, but when it’s new, there’s a lot. At the moment, with all our organising and planning, we can easily spend an entire evening sitting in silence sorting logistics.
It’s now officially referred to as life admin night!
And all I keep thinking is.. if this is February, what’s it going to be like in peak mid-season? Because right now I’m already envisaging us as passing ships in the night. 🙈
So yes.. cricket hasn’t officially started yet. But it’s already making itself very comfortable in our lives- taking up evenings, conversations and brain space before the season’s even begun.
Ten weekends.
Sorry- you can’t unsee that.
That wasn’t the intention, but I’m fully in that phase of urgency and denial now. Wanting to do everything at once. I’m thinking we need to arrange things with friends because we won’t get to as couples for a while, while at the same time thinking we need to do things just us two because once the season starts it’s us and every other member of the club.
We need to go on a really long walk. Stop at a pub. Spend the afternoon there. Blah blah blah blah. Even now I'm thinking, oh we will do it next weekend- but I know if I keep saying that, suddenly there won't be any left!
It’s also just "lifey" stuff.
Because once cricket starts, that becomes 100% of the conversation- and I don’t feel dramatic saying that. If it’s not about the game, I don’t even bother haha!.. Forget talking about mortgage advisors, car hunting or planning a ski trip for next winter they don't want to hear it!
"No, no that will all wait until the end of the season"
Sorry.. so we’re just going to let six months of our life pass by again before addressing it?!
Tell me this isn’t just me!! 😂
Maybe it's not calm at all..
Writing this, I actually feel a bit panicky- my head is already deep into planning my own sh*t. Maybe this isn’t the calm before the storm at all, because right now cricket feels very loud.
It’s the hype before the season. New bats. New players. Club AGMs. Indoor nets in full swing. We’re officially on countdown.
February also really reminds me of the constant cricket cycle- the one that repeats every single year. When the sun’s out, the evenings are light and everyone’s down at the ground, there genuinely is nothing better. You don’t step back and question it- you’re just in it. Living it. Supporting it. Letting summer roll on.
But February does something different.
It’s the month where you suddenly think.. the next time I’m going to properly look up again is September.
And it makes you reflect.
Did I really make the most of this off-season?
Did I go on the holiday I wanted to?
Did we do the things together that we don’t get to do in summer?
Or did another off-season quietly pass by while cricket crept back into every nook and cranny of life, starting to put things on pause again for another six months?
February feels like that waiting room- where cricket hasn’t fully arrived, but it’s already shaping decisions again. And it makes you ask yourself.. am I actually doing what I want to do?
The thing is- you don’t have to wait six months.
We’re learning, together, how to find the balance of doing life in, amongst, and alongside the game. This year, you don’t have to put everything on hold until September before doing the thing you want to do. You don’t have to wait for them. Ring the girls. Do it yourself. Do it with other cricket widows.
Because honestly.. we’re all thinking and feeling the same.
I already know a really good bunch of people I’d love to spend time with over summer- having fun, not explaining ourselves, and knowing they’ll probably be up for it too.
You guys.
We are a club of such like-minded, sympathetic, friendly, proper "club-people" humans- and when we come together, the vibes are genuinely top tier because everyone understands why it matters.
And if you’re wanting just a little smidge of that feeling, come and join us inside The Cricket Widow Club Skool Community- the hub for all our CW antics, chats, plans and support throughout the season! Click the link to have a look..
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