Abe

18 September 2025

The greatness of Cricket – Doubtful initiative with expected outcomes, told by a Grandfather.

I’ve always believed cricket to be the pinnacle of all sports. There’s just something poetic about a game that takes five days to complete.

Unfortunately, my grandson doesn’t share my enthusiasm for what I call real sports. Instead—he’s fallen head over heels for table tennis. Yes, table tennis.

I used to walk him home from school through Regent’s Park, where we’d chat about the important things in life— like overs, wickets, and the unparalleled glory of Lord’s Cricket Ground.

But then something happened. Something sinister. One day, on our route through the park, we noticed shiny new boxes by the table tennis area— stuffed with paddles and balls.

“Look, Grandpa! We can play table tennis after school!” he squealed.

We played a few times. Now, I’m as agile as a fox—don’t get me wrong— but ping-pong wasn’t exactly my forte. Still, I obliged. After all, I’m a loving grandparent.

To mitigate my suffering—and back pain— I wrote in that sports app thing that my grandson wanted to “play someone after school on Wednesdays.” Some sort of digital bulletin board. Thought nothing of it— until a Chinese gentleman appeared a couple of days later with his granddaughter.

We’d seen them before, walking the opposite way. Mr. Li didn’t say much. Muttered something about never playing table tennis, then stood there like a mouthy referee, scrutinising the game like it were the bloody Olympics.

Not exactly the height of social engagement.

But the kids— they had the time of their lives. Laughing, batting back and forth, talentless. But they were having fun. So I kept my opinions to myself—mostly.

In the end, I get it— this “inclusive infrastructure” everyone’s raving about. It’s great for the kids, brings communities together, and all that jazz.

But it can lead people astray… from the things that really matter.

Maybe those sharing sports boxes in Regent’s Park could close between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.? Give people a well-earned break after work and school.

That was years ago. My grandson’s doing his Masters now.

I had dreams once— of seeing him in cricket whites, bat raised high and glorious.

Instead, we occasionally go to Lord’s to watch real cricket.

Me and Mr. Li? Still play a game every day after lunch. He definitely played back in China. But I’m not too bad myself. It’s grown on me.

But it sure isn’t cricket.