With less than a month to go until the cricket World Cup I can’t help thinking that I could quit my job, sell my earthly possessions and move to St Kitts (South Africa and Australia’s home for the tournament). There, I could become a beach bum or try to catch some rare illness so that I can spend a month in isolation in hospital where all I can do to pass the time is watch sport. (Good plan)

But sadly, life does get first preference over cricket. For example, February 14 may be special to everyone because of Valentine's Day - but our family celebrate for a different reason. My little sister was born on the 14th and every year we go out. This year was no different. She had turned 18 so my mother took us all out for a Chinese meal which was lovely but I couldn’t really enjoy the banter because of a recurring thought. Were South Africa beating Pakistan?

I had been at work earlier that day listening to the cricket on the radio and I was over the moon about Shaun Pollock’s five-wicket haul when my mother came to fetch me. We got to the restaurant just after the wicket of Graeme Smith (surprisingly, he was out for a duck which was also on the menu). Unsurprisingly, the restaurant didn’t own a television.

Even on Saturday night (the 10th), when we had my sister's party, I couldn’t help thinking:  ''I'm going to be so tired for the game on Sunday. We only got a few hours sleep but I was up on Sunday to watch the game;  good thing it ended early after South Africa beat Pakistan by ten wickets, so I got straight back into to bed.

My mother's birthday is in September and mine is in May so there isn’t much cricket at the beginning of winter. In 2006, New Zealand toured South Africa and the matches went on into May so naturally I got to go and it was my party and birthday present all in one.

I say that sport is something special when it can make a grown man cry because watching your favourite team lose is quite traumatic. I’m a woman so it means that it has an even greater effect on me! PMS should stand for Post-Match Symptoms.

I never saw the 1992 World Cup but I can just image the sadness of needing 22 runs off one ball. In 1999 we had the comedy of errors (what is the difference between a dog and Allan Donald? When you call the dog through, it runs. At least I can laugh at it now, but I still can’t watch the replay to this day.)

Then there was the night South Africa were knocked out of the 2003 World Cup. My mother let me stay up to watch the game on a school night and I remember sitting there in silence watching the rain come down at Kingsmead. Needless to say, I went to bed in tears. Luckily everyone knew and didn’t even bring up the words rain, Sri Lanka or Duckworth/Lewis for at least a week after. I still have that famous picture of Shaun Pollock in my cupboard somewhere - the one that was on the front page of every newspaper the next day.

Thank goodness there are some good days among the memories - I mean the game in which South Africa beat Australia is now known as the record 438 for nine game. I won’t be forgetting that day any time soon because we went to the Bryan Adams concert after the game. When I mean after the game I wouldn’t let my sister leave without me until I saw Mark Boucher hit the winning runs. It was unbelievable, everyone there was talking about it - even Bryan Adams mentioned South Africa's win during the show. I went to work the next day
smiling from ear to ear;  everyone just wanted to know about the game.

Sport is universal and can be loved by all for different reasons. Everyone has a muse in this world - love, music and sport would be high up on that list of things that inspire people. The game has become part of me in so many ways and I hope it will continue in my years to come.

“Natalie for President of SALSOC” – South African Lady Supporters of Cricket!

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