The Hundred Cricket and My Love Language

So, very unexpectedly this past month I have gotten into The Hundred - a cricket competition of all things! It started when my parents got tickets to watch a day of action at the Oval and invited me and my partner along to join them. I had this date in my calendar for months and the closer we got, the more excited I became.

I am not usually a cricket fan. I wouldn’t even call myself a sports fan generally, except for these bursts of getting into something, at first, purely because someone I care about is into it too. But then it’s like my brain sees the opportunity to connect and floods my body with all the right feelings to love it to.

It’s not that I’m pretending to be interested in something for someone else, but I end up with genuine enthusiasm. I’m not just watching these cricket games when I’m with my parents, but I have been putting them on in my own time too. Plus, I even made a cricket display at the library as another way of expressing this excited energy. I think trying out other people’s hobbies or interests is my love language, because this is far from the first time it’s happened. I gave the sport my brother loves a go, done deep dives into niche topics with a friend, and joined the musical theatre fandom someone I love was a part of.

August has been a month of texting and calling my mum around matches; of learning about the game from my dad; and introducing my partner to the two of them for the first time on what was such a lovely day out.

I am close to my parents anyway, but this has been a wonderful burst of connection. I love hearing the people I love talk about the things they love. But it’s more than that too. It’s being let into their world for a short while, feeling the pull to join in, and building a stronger connection from there.

So, that’s how I ended up getting so much joy from a cricket competition this August and cheering at the TV when the women’s final was on this past weekend. And it has been a lot of fun 😊