Being a fan...

I've watched snippets of the Champions League Twenty/20 over the past week or so. While regular readers will know I'm not a huge fan of the format, there have been some good performances and the results so far have confirmed my thoughts that the real cricketing powers (irrespective of the result of the Ashes) are Australia and South Africa, the sides from those countries having played good, purposeful cricket.

You could argue that their sides are the freshest too, with Sussex and Somerset coming off the back of long hard seasons. Alternately, you could say that the latter should have been in better nick, but it hasn't looked that way. Trinidad and Tobago have been the surprise package, with expansive strokes and steady bowling making them a decent side, at least in this format.

Thanks to those who have been in touch about the difference of opinion I had on In Morris We Trust earlier in the week with a Derbyshire "fan". I'm annoyed and sorry that I allowed myself to get dragged into it and asked for my comments to be removed. It won't happen again.

There were two things that annoyed me. One was the contributor suggesting I set myself up as an "oracle" of Derbyshire cricket, which I don't. I write on here, purely and simply as a fan of the club. I have been since 1967 and I will be until my coffin goes through the curtains on the crematorium conveyor belt, hopefully a long time from now. As a fan, or supporter if you will, I support the club, the Director of Cricket, the players and the administration. Don't get me wrong, there'll be times when I'll criticise when it is deserved, when our batting capitulates, or our bowlers lob assorted junk down on a bad length. Yet such occurrences are much rarer these days, with the exception of a couple of poor one day games in the past season.

If people think I know a bit about the club, that's nice, though I don't set myself as Derbyshire cricket's Mastermind. My "name" gives it away. Peakfan. I'm a fan. Be honest, "The Derbyshire Oracle" or "Moaning Git's Derbyshire Page" might not have the same ring, though the latter might fit better with aspects of the Derbyshire psyche.

You don't believe me? Look at the Derby Telegraph on the Monday after a Derby County game. If we lose, there'll be twice as many contributors than if we win. Same with message boards about the cricket club, there's always more contributors ready to vent their spleen on a loss than acknowledge a job well done. Crazy, but true. I try to remember that, whatever the result, these guys are doing their best and sometimes it just ain't enough. Sometimes the opposition play better, sometimes we don't get the rub of the green, occasionally we play badly. C'est la vie, as someone (probably French) once said...

The other thing that annoyed me was the suggestion that I'm not a real fan as I don't go to enough games. There's three reasons for that. One is the piffling 680-mile round trip between our house and the County Ground. Another is the fact that I've a wife and two kids who quite like their husband/Dad to be around and who I enjoy being with. The third is that I have a full time job that pays the bills and keeps me fairly busy from Monday to Friday (and occasionally on Saturdays too). Much as I'd love to devote my annual leave to cricket watching, holidays with the family have to take precedence.

Yet outside of my family and my job, Derbyshire cricket is my biggest interest by a country mile. I love books, love music of most kinds and I'm a huge film fan. I still support Derby County. Yet they pall next to Derbyshire Cricket Club. I would love to live closer so I could see more games, but I'm realistic enough to accept that unless we get a game against Scotland in Edinburgh, the nearest I'd get to a home game is a five-hour round trip to see us play Durham in the Twenty/20.

So I content myself with my lot. Reading as much about the club as I can find, watching them on Sky, keeping in touch with pals by e mail and text (thanks guys!) and minimising the desktop scoreboard on my computer at work so I can keep an eye on developments. Oh, and keeping half an eye on teletext and doing this blog.

I must have seen around 500 games in my time and can close my eyes and picture the scene at most of them. I can remember the laughs and the comments that my Dad and I have exchanged at these matches, all of them enjoyed. Apart from the only Twenty/20 I took Dad to, when he said he would sooner have his toenails removed with pliers than go through that again - unless they played Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey at the fall of wickets and the hitting of boundaries...

So, if you are in a position where you can go to a lot of cricket, make sure that you appreciate it. There's people out there, like me, would absolutely love to be there with you, but because of a variety of circumstances can't do so.

But we're no less a fan because of that.