This #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek, why not take a moment to step away from the rat race and do something just for the sake of doing it?
Of course, I am not suggesting that players should take to the pitch armed with binoculars and a copy of the Collins’ “Birds of Britain & Europe”.
“Eye on the ball”, and all that.
But why not take a moment between deliveries to simply enjoy being outdoors, away from your desk?
Or just reconnect with nature, however briefly, during your working week?
I did enjoy this tweet, from Rick Walton @cricketmanwales…even if I could happily have listened to more of the cuckoo, and less of Rick. 😉
I have a regular, early start on Saturday mornings, to get in to work for an 8am coaching group. Not much fun leaving the house at 6.30am in the middle of winter, but, as spring approaches, such a joy to hear the birds singing on my walk to the station.
As I type, I can hear a collared dove calling. The house sparrows have finished their noisy breakfast and moved on, but I am fairly sure that I have heard a robin this morning.
My own best “twitches” actually on the cricket field?
I always had a soft spot for the Orsett’s School Lane ground. We paid an annual Sunday visit (probably late ‘70s-mid ‘80s) and were always entertained by a skylark, soaring over the nearby fields.
Once, high overhead at High Beach, in Epping Forest, a buzzard soaring.
And, just over a month ago, what I think might have been a young buzzard being mobbed by our “local” crows and chased into the trees at Oakfield.
Believe me, the bird is in this picture…
The Teesra 