Meeting of minds: Cricket societies keep faith during testing times for domestic game

"Is this the right place for the cricket meeting?" I enquire. "It is," one of them replies. "And I'm guessing by the fact you're half the age of anyone else coming tonight that you're the guest speaker."

- Ben Bloom

Hidden behind trees in the gloom of dimly lit street lamps, the Lees Hall Golf Club is easy to miss on a dank autumnal evening. As I park—having turned around after initially driving straight past—and step out of my car, the only signs of life in the deserted car park come from another vehicle out of which two men in their later years emerge.

His assumption is correct, at least the speaker part (I am at least a decade too old for the other bit of his statement to be entirely accurate, but the sentiment remains). On entering the golf club, something of a commotion is apparent in the main function room.

The Sheffield Cricket Lovers have bought a new banner to provide a backdrop for their regular meetings, but—as the pained combined efforts of four committee members show—the latest purchase is proving harder to erect than anticipated. "I'm pleased to see it has a red ball on it rather than a white ball," notes one attendee once the task has been completed.

Every couple of weeks or so, somewhere in the region of 50 people head to Lees Hall, on the southern outskirts of Sheffield, for an evening in the presence of a guest speaker from the world of cricket. Sometimes it is a former England international—Devon Malcolm, Dean Headley and Craig White are among recent speakers. Other times a coach, commentator or author.

Tonight, they have assembled to hear me ramble about my book,