We have no qualifications for this. Zilch. We are not cricketers, ex-cricketers, umpires, coaches, or managers. We are not sports historians, or journalists, and have never been paid a cent for our writing. We are not old-time insiders or locker-room hounds -- we have never met a professional cricketer, and have no real plans to do so in the future. We have only been to a small number of live games, and often spent a large part of those complaining about the heat. We are fans. Simply fans.
We are also unapologetically biased, we sometimes do shoddy research and we can often be quick to generalise. We embrace our subjectivity and are proud to have based our devotion and appreciation for the game on it.
These thoughts are the ones that come to us after the original ones, the obvious ones, the ones cricinfo plants in us. They are the ruminations and meditations and rants of the wee hours, after all else has been done. After work, and food, and a toke -- when clear thought starts dissolving and perception shifts and fades. When the magic happens.