James Foster will turn 38 this year. Last summer, he played a part in Essex winning their first Specsavers County Championship title in 25 years. Naturally, there were thoughts of retirement. His contract was up in September and here was a golden chance to walk into the sunset.
Eighteen seasons of first-class cricket had been good to Foster, a player lauded for setting the modern standard for wicketkeeping yet with 23 hundreds and approaching 14,000 runs also boasting an average just under 37 in first-class cricket. Add to that England caps, world tournament appearances and enough memories to fill a thousand minds. And yet, even he fancies another crack at this glorious, infuriating game. Pen to paper on a new deal and here Foster is, up for another round on the circuit.
He’s not alone, of course. Paul Collingwood, at the age of 41, wasn’t satisfied with 1,087 Championship runs last term, or the respect of his peers with Durham’s Players’ Player of the Year award to go with his Batsman of the Year gong. He goes again, into a 23rd season at the Riverside, not having to look far back for Durham’s past glories, a Championship title in 2013, to draw inspiration for a push – one last, Colly? – to take his side back to Division One. “You never know with Durham – if we can build that spirit early on and get things moving then anything can happen.”
Even Mark Ramprakash, a man who walked away from the professional game with 114 first-class centuries under his belt and is now England’s batting coach, still takes to the Middlesex club scene to turn out for Stanmore Cricket Club. And yes, the 48-year-old is still scoring hundreds for fun. Just ask Finchley, who were treated to a stellar 136 last July.
Perhaps that’s why the game moves us like few other sports. Michael Corleone wasn’t talking about cricket when he muttered “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in”, but the sentiment is all too familiar. Rarely does a sport have you coming back for more.
The surprise in Foster’s example is that even knowing the fickle nature of the game and having accomplished so much, he wants to continue. “I still feel I have a lot to give,” says the Essex gloveman ahead of his 19th summer. But the truth is – as those who play away from the crowds, at the very roots of the game, can attest to – even in failure, the game is hard to resist.
It’s why we cling on to those silver linings: “Sure, it was only 14, but how about that cover drive for four?” As amateurs, we don’t laud the 30-odd scores because they’re great, we do so because they speak of missed opportunities, of what-might-have-beens. The imagination is better than reality. Yes, maybe if you did stay, you would have scored a hundred and won the game. But you didn’t. And you know what - that’s OK. Another season means brings another set of encounters with fate. And new kit.
“You get your new kit and you’re like a kid, pulling it out of the wrapper, waving your bat around and thinking about the runs you’re going to score,” says Sam Hain, the 22-year-old Warwickshire batsman earmarked for a big 2018. Whether it’s sent by a sponsor or you’ve pulled a few extra shifts to treat yourself to a Grade One willow, nothing fills you with optimism quite like the smell and feel of new gear. Sure, a pro might have plenty of each bit of state-of-the-art stash, but he or she will always have their favourites, along with tried and tested methods for wearing them in.
A bowler stretching out his new boots with dozens of rolled up socks; a keeper folding his new gloves and sticking them under the mattress; the last knocks of a mallet on a pre-knocked-in bat, just for good measure. All three are familiar, unifying rituals across the levels. Some of you reading this right now may have done one or all of the above in the last few weeks. And just as quickly, pro or not, you might opt back for the bat that, actually, still has a bit in it, having served you well for the last six-years.
“I think I’ll know when it’s time to go,” says Foster. The retirement of Foster’s former England sparring partner Chris Read at 39, having led Nottinghamshire to promotion last year, made the Essex man more aware of life beyond the game. “Yeah, Ready did make me think about it [retirement] a bit. But you know in your bones.”
Whether 38 like Foster, 28, 18 or 8, those bones will be shaking when Friday 13 April comes around. A combination of nerves, excitement and the residual chill of the Beast from the East as you take to the field or the stands for the first day of the English summer. Since 1890, it has not been swallows but the County Championship that has been the true signifier of summer. So it is again this Friday.
Whether you have been away with the Test squad or boring your loved ones with the annual promise that this will be the last summer you play, that first sniff of freshly painted strip and gnarly spikes you forgot to clean over the winter bring it all back: the ups that make the downs bearable; the team spirit that makes the lonely moments of the game’s infuriations totally worth it.
The beauty of Foster saying he will know when it’s time to go is that maybe he won’t. Maybe he won’t know when enough is enough because, just like us lower down the ladder, he could just keep coming back. The game is demented, infuriating, rewarding and everything you could ever want.
So, all the best, to each and every one of you, for 2018 – a cricket season that may be your first, last or simply just another!