Whilst the first round of the county championship and the occasional opening friendly against one of the two universities were usual either snowed off or at least buried beneath an avalanche of football results. By the time late May has eased into view everyone has got the hang of the idea - the cricket season has started!
In those early games at least one batsman hits a rich vein of form that propels them onto the back pages and either gets them spoken of as a possible test contender or more often as being on track to beat the end of May cut-off to reach a thousand runs - the batsman's Holy Grail. This year's contender is England tyro Joe Root, who despite a fine century for England at Headingly will fall short as so many do.
Whether someone does manage to make it to 1,000 runs before June appears on the numerous desk calendars of the 18 counties is irrelevant really. The important thing is the game is back. The summer game full of its monotony and exhilaration, with its inevitable rhythm and the occasional jarring interjection (a hat-trick or barrage of sixes), with its long lunches and short spells, hectic run chases and moments of blissful tranquility is back. And thus all is well in the world!
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