Chance Remarks

I got to thinking the other day how often chance remarks can impact of your life and the related opportunities and activities that present themselves.

As an example, and what really got me thinking about this topic, many years ago I was asked if I could score a cricket match that may son was playing in. I used to play for the same club but through injury could no longer do so. Instead, I used to go and watch his efforts as most parents would you would hope. I agreed to have a go at scoring although I had never seen a scorebook in my life and had only a basic understanding of the method and symbols used along with the Laws of Cricket and how they relate to scoring a match.

Anyway, I scored the game and everyone seemed happy with my efforts (perhaps that was mainly because no-one else wanted to score) and I carried on doing so for the next few months, really quite enjoying the task as I found it to be both relaxing and an excellent way of being involved with the Club and my son's cricketing career.

Then one day, and this is the main point of this tale, someone said to me - "Did you know that you can do exams in cricket scoring and get a qualification?"

Well, two reactions: 1) No I did not and 2) I thought he was joking.

But it turns out that you can do a course in Cricket Scoring which if you then successfully pass a written exam and prove that you have scored competently at so many matches, entitles you to score at fairly high levels within the game of Cricket. So I thought "why not", gave it a go, passed the exam and qualified as a scorer.

Well, since then I have scored at international level for teams such as Sri Lanka and New Zealand and last Sunday was given the opportunity to score a match at JP Getty's estate which has it's own lovely cricket ground. All because I became a qualified cricket scorer.

So, all because of a chance remark about 15 years ago, I undertook training in something I didn't realise you could be trained in and since then have been offered and taken opportunities to score at a very high level in cricket. This has led me to meet some interesting and famous people along with visiting some lovely cricket grounds.

Thanks therefore go to Mr B for his chance remark - funny old world isn't it.