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[MD2812]

I've always played sport since I could walk, like cricket but didn't take it seriously until I couldn't play regular football or rugby due to knee pain (although i'd tailed off playing rugby by this point)

Initally played with 2 mates with a foam bat and a tennis ball around the school grounds. We then started playing with a leather ball in nets. Joined my local club and it went from there.

Now, cricket is a much bigger part of my life. It's my main hobby and probably my most regular socialising outside of work. Live for Saturdays.

[googly]

I PLAY CRICKET BECAUSE FOOTBALL IS TOO TIRING.

[uknsaunders]

Have no idea why I play. My best guess could be banter, cake, avoiding the family, standing (or ideally sitting) in the sun. Pretty sure it has nothing to do with ability or exercise.

[tim2000s]

I play because I love it. I don't play enough due to "family commitments" and that gets on my nerves.

I think there is something about the camaraderie of the team and that you are generally playing with friends, so you all pull together and feel the ups and downs together.

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[Blazer]

The summer heat , the smell of fresh cut grass. That feeling when you middle the ball. I love the smell of lager even though I can't drink. I guess I am chasing a beautiful memory of how it felt to play cricket and that makes me play every year. Plus the usual perks of avoiding the spouse.

[trypewriter]

I play because I love it. I don't play enough due to "family commitments" and that gets on my nerves.

I think there is something about the camaraderie of the team and that you are generally playing with friends, so you all pull together and feel the ups and downs together.

Yer big softie! 
Seriously - good answer Tim. 

[trypewriter]

Me? I've never been any good at it, but I enjoy it when I get the chance to play.

[felix]

Great thread this! I've never been much cop at this game and on the inexorable downhill slope towards retirement.  I love the feeling (all too rare) of having totally nailed a textbook shot. And the buzz of the team pulling together to win in a tight scrap. But also, being a bit nerdy, i think cricket is almost unique among sports for its technicalities and subtleties. Which is probably why lots of people find it boring but thats their loss...

[Northern monkey]

Excellent and thought provoking topic

Some great posts

Why do I play?
Because I always have? My earliest memories are of playing cricket on a cobbled back street with a scrunched up newspaper ball and a bat cut out of somebody's old skirting board!

Ive had many reasons to not play,,usual back problems ,dodgy knees, ex wife hated it and me!ha, ,and I went blind when I was 16,,which kinda ended my 'professional' hopes,,,but after eye surgery and a cricket loving new missus,I play whenever, wherever and for whomever I can.   Knowing how lucky I am, just to be able to play
I try and improve and learn year on year,, but still get out to the same shots,,,must be the bat?
I've made some truly lifelong friends from the game and introduced my son to a game I know he loves playing as much as I do

[mini998]

I guess I'm a hopeless romantic when it comes to cricket . Never had the opportunity to play leather ball cricket in my childhood due to me being a rubbish players.Was pretty much useless in every aspect of the game so I never enjoyed playing it due to all the disappointment and humiliation. So I gave up trying to play the game and watched/followed the game religiously to keep myself satisfied.

But since I started playing club cricket couple years back at the age of 32, I realised I have become a much better cricketer with regular practice. These days I absolutely love playing the game and I pretty much live my life for Saturdays.

[GarrettJ]

For fun, enjoyment and the mental challenge of batting. I just love batting. I could go in the nets for 10 hours a day if i could find a bowler

[A-Swing-And-A-Miss]

Because telling a girl in a club that you play cricket is a guaranteed way to pull..

[tim2000s]

Because telling a girl in a club that you play cricket is a guaranteed way to pull..

Where do you live? We need to visit...

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[FattusCattus]

I play because where I live, all cricketers are imbued with a raw sex-appeal - honestly it's like a pheromone!

I play because I enjoy man-made fibres, and the sensation of cheap plastic cupping my testicles.

I play because if I didn't my wife would have a selection of seriously tedious sh*t for me to do at home - all weekend.

I play because I feel associating myself with a bunch of younger, far sportier men will make me eminently more shaggable at 'Slags' nightclub in Woking on a Saturday night.

I play because I love the game, and at my age the alternatives are bridge, garden centres and swinging.

I play because it's the best game ever, and I don't care that my wife and some teenagers don't get it.

I play because it makes me feel good, and it is the perfect antidote to having to work in a sh*tty job for a living, and brings joy to my weekends.

God bless us all - nerds one and all!

[AverageCricketer]

I have reignited my love for cricket after a couple of years out, because I hated getting up early on a Sunday and I didn't have much ability. But now, I have realised that cricket is what I love most, and I am around people who understand me when I talk. Even though my ability is mediocre, I like the game more every day.