There are a few advantages of getting older. Increased wisdom, an odd pension payment here and there and kids old enough that you don't have to run them round anywhere or turn up for every last tedious school function.
But on reflection I'd swap a lot of that to have my hair back and be able to trundle in for a a few overs for someone.
One of the saddest things is realising that your time on earth is becoming increasingly finite and that there are people in your past who you loved to spend time with who, quite honestly, you have to accept you're probably, whether through circumstances or your own laziness in keeping in touch, unlikely to see ever again.
A year becomes five, ten, 20...life rolls on and old friendships become distant memories.
So it was lovely at Cherry Tree on Saturday to hear a familiar voice and see an old face at the scorebox door.
Stuart Whalley, who I sat with many an afternoon when I scored for Church or Ossy Immanuel and he did for Read and Burnley, often says 'hi' on Facebook and kindly comments on this blog but he had taken advantage of his Lancashire Rider bus ticket to journey from his Burnley home to catch up in person. What a fabulous surprise.
Stuart, always a darts enthusiast who played to a high standard, told me time is catching up with him too at 61 and he operates as non-playing captain these days as he is 'losing to lads I'd have beaten comfortably once over" - it comes to us all - but proudly related that he'd sunk three in the bull bed in practice a week or two ago, a rare feat Luke Littler can't have emulated too often. Happily, he's back in the scorer's ranks too doing for Read next week.
Visitors in the scorer's space aren't always welcome - more of that later - but Stuart knows when the "tallying" takes precedence over conversation and understands the rhythms of when to chat and when to allow space.
With Cherry Tree's tech guru Mickey Doolan also present at one point we had a deep Duckworth Lewis conversation nobody else in humanity would be able to fathom. It was fabulous too to reminisce about past times.
It made us think poignantly of happy afternoons decades ago with characters, some deceased now like Lionel Cooke at Accrington - everyone who sat with "Mister Nabisco" as my old Haslingden Casuals mates dubbed Lionel has a fund of anecdotes about him - Mike Henson at Bacup, Bob Johnson and the late Martin Littler the scorer/announcer double act in Rawtenstall's top office, the recently departed and much missed John Smithson at Edenfield, Keith Crabtree at Earby and my predecessor at both Church and Oswy Immanuel, the redoubtable Peter Hacking. Only Bob left out of that lot.
I actually took over from the late Mr Hacking when he had arrived for duty at Settle in the late 1990's rather too "refreshed" shall we say and was in no fit state to carry out his duties. I stayed on scoring for Immanuel up to the time I moved down to Nottingham in 2003 for a couple of years when Mrs Wilky re-appeared in my life after a 20-year gap.
Stuart and I watched a cracking Cherry Tree v Earby game unfold with consistent, always entertaining Charlie Elwood (46) and pro Min Bhada (52) setting the home team up for what looked a big score, Earby fighting back well with Luke Hipgrave among the wickets then what proved to be a match-winning last wicket stand of 33 (unbroken) between former Immanuel pair Andreas Sudnik and Kurt Smithson taking Cherry to 192 for nine.
Earby looked favourites for a long period but their pro "DJ' Jayathunga couldn't quite break the shackles in making 44 and they fell 16 short, skipper Sudnik claiming his and two more vital wickets including the latest in Cherry Tree's impressive "caught and bowled of the season" collection for 2025. Smithson still edges that for me with an early season effort.
I really like the Earby lads and we get a third league game with them in a few weeks thanks to a quirky curiosity in the ten-team league fixtures.
Their scorer on Saturday was a young fella who's just finished year 10 in high school and at Greenmount with Accrington on Sunday the female scorer was exactly the same age.
Now I work part-time in both primary and high schools and am a trained welfare officer who regularly undergoes training in what is and isn't acceptable so I know a little about the parameters of accepted behaviour around young people.
While I don't want to name any names or go into detail about incidents, players, umpires and club officials need to be mindful that in these days of safeguarding and welfare regulations, whether you think they're necessary or not, even if you think it's all a load of 'woke' nonsense, rules is rules and flagrantly breaking them can land people in scalding hot water.
The scorers' space where children are often present is not a place for raging, angry cricketers to sound off about decisions.
And, importantly, the fact that scorers are in radio contact with umpires is not to be used as an opportunity for anyone to come in exhorting said scorers to question on-field decisions or use the technology themselves to carry on disputes.
That needs stressing to captains, officials and players in a league memo if necessary.
Greenmount are a most hospitable club and it was a pleasure to meet John Stevens who is a perfect gent behind the scenes. Captain Travis Townsend was also most helpful throughout the day.
There was no respite on the field however for Accy, skippered by Emile Haratbar, whose sparkling recent batting form was rendered rather irrelevant by a questionable decision, not the first or by any means most contentious of the day.
Although there were some small signs of recovery shoots early on - Graeme Sneddon initially looked comfortable and unburdened restored to the opener slot and relieved of the captaincy while Jon Hayhurst down at three as a result batted as well as I've seen him since Crompton away - the familiar clatter of wickets just after passing the 100 mark with four down ended the game as a contest by the tea interval (which had to be extended by ten minutes as the lady preparing the warm pasta had looked at the scoreboard prior to that point and assumed there was plenty of time).
Jacques Snyman ended with seven for 24 but the most deflating and morale-sapping moment came when his namesake and no relation Jurie, who by the very nature of our tendency to collapse (that tea lady really needs to study the trend of bottom half Division Two teams to subside) has to bat cautiously and choose the moment to unleash week after week, finally got fed an opportunity to break the shackles when young slow left-armer Noah Birtwistle came on, dropped a horrible long-hop first ball half way down and the pro, almost unable to believe his eyes at such a gift, duly and unerringly found the man on the square-leg boundary.
Darcey Carter was deservedly up the order but perished first ball to Snyman and Waqar Asraf who scored his maiden 50 for the Thirds at Tod on Saturday and doubled it into a 100, could only make a single.
The innings ended with Damian Clarke adjudged leg before, a decision which you almost had to laugh at, in stark contrast to the reaction to a later, identical ruling.
After everyone had enjoyed the pasta finally heated to the correct temperature, Accrington got a great boost when Oliver Lowe bowled Greenmount's pro Snyman second ball of the innings. It was a great moment and a notable scalp for Olly, earlier stranded on nought not out too far down the order in my view, but evidently did little to enhance the burly South African's mood for the afternoon.
Mohammed Asad Khan, who perhaps hasn't had the wickets his efforts merit over the season, did for the other opener Heaton but Greenmount's batting depth is such that at three and four, Townsend is a vastly-experienced former first-class player and Andy Kerr, a player I have always enjoyed watching, was pro at Immanuel for a couple of years.
They went untroubled to within 22 of their target with Darcey unable to repeat her debut heroics and Jurie wicketless before Abbas Ahmad bowled Townsend then had Kerr leg before in almost identical fashion to how Emile and Damian had perished.
You know I do a bit of umpiring myself and I find it hard and stressful at times so I don't like to criticise but let's say al three calls looked very wrong from my angle.
I think words were exchanged at this point - I have to declare that I took the fall of wicket as the chance to chivalrously remove a bothersome wasp from my young co-scorers's orbit after trapping it in a glass and missed the scene - and the upshot was five penalty runs awarded to Accrington.
I wouldn't have thought that raising the requirement from 15 to 20 more off 32.3 remaining overs with six wickets intact was all that worth getting your Rainbow Nation underpants in a twist about and so it proved as Greenmount cantered home but hey, what do I know? After expressing my own displeasure at what followed one young home player advised me to 'get back to Accrington.'
I plan to, but as I live about as far from Hyndburn as he presumably does and journeyed home in the opposite direction, not till this Sunday when the iMEP clash with fellow strugglers East Lancs gives us a chance to record a long overdue result. My current team against my first cricketing love.
Do come and say hello in the scorers' quarters if you can observe the required decorum.
I wanted to mention a couple of cricketers who get little publicity but whose landmarks came to my notice. My daughter Millie's NHS colleague Kit Patel, who tells her he seldom enjoys any joy with the bat, recently hit five sixes off the first five balls of an over for Withnell Fold and, very un-Sobers like, had the presence of mind to pinch a single off the last one to keep the strike.
And son of Great Harwood John Clayton, a great friend, fellow Roverite and top recording musician (book his fantastic solo spot for your club's beer festival or whatever) took to the field for New Longton with both his teenage sons Joe and Seth last week. All my bowling to them in the school playground paid off. I even got an odd bat with Seth as he reeled off his brilliant Goochie type bowling impersonations.
He would have gone down well in the dying embers of the Test at Old Trafford. What a sorry, surly exhibition there at the death from England. Spectators get cheated daily by over rates, gamesmanship, weather and the like - they deserved an extra twenty minutes of entertainment which Stokes and co ought to have respected.
Last week's quiz answer - Ian Austin with 428 runs at 61.14 (HS 99) for Accy in 8 games finished above Viv Richards (999 at 58.76) in the 1987 averages. M goodness was it rally 38 years ago?
This week - which vastly experienced Lancashire League player who played 321 games between 7 of the original 14 clubs played just once for Accrington and also represented the T20 Cricket World Cup's newest qualifiers?
