Despite the world's chaos there's always cricket

Apparently not everyone in the world likes or knows about or plays cricket. It's a joyful sport and I am sorry for those who have not enjoyed the pleasures of a sunny afternoon watching batsmen hitting or trying to hit a cricket ball out of the ground. OK, it's not a fast-moving game, it's not like the frantic pace of UK Premiership football, but its measured skills and often slow accumulation of runs is a perfect way to while away some hours when the sun is shining and there's nothing else to really do or worry about. Watching England battle with West Indies in the second Test Match on television this week has been fun and relaxing and sometimes exciting. What more do you want on a Sunday? But as enjoyable is to visit a local ground to watch two local sides play in a day-long match. Sometimes the quality of the cricket can be astoundingly good. Buy a sandwich and a beer and sit near the boundary, forgetting about all those nagging worries that tend to envelope you during the week, it's bliss. I have played cricket since I was a young lad, often playing with my father for a Sussex team called The Seagulls. He bowled slow, cunning spinning balls and I tried to be fast and furious. When I went in to bat my aim was always to hit a six over the pavilion roof. There is nothing more satisfying. One of my great moments when I was in my late thirties was to play against a House of Commons side and during a bief batting innings hit a monstrous six over the boundary straight ahead of me. The ball soared into the heavens. The bowler had the same name as me, Michael Evans. The only other time I met someone with the same name as me was in the Seychelles. I was wandering along the beach when I bumped into a local, younger than me, who was setting up a parachute glide across the sea. We got chatting and I inroduced myself. "My name is Michael Evans," I said. He gave me an astonished grin and replied. "And my name is Evans Michael." In the Seychelles they generally put the names the other way around. We both laughed.