Day 50: 1993 the year that changed everything

 When Sussex announced they were releasing a retro Sunday League shirt from 1993, there was no question I had to buy one. It was a year that was important in choosing my sporting allegiances; I just need the Norwich City "bird poo" shirt, and I will be immensely happy.

It was also the year that I went to my first ever first-class cricket match. It was at Hampshire's old county ground, a ground that oozed charm, if not comfort. The Australian's were in town. Names that have since become iconic, Brendan Julian, Wayne Holdsworth and Tim Zoeher, other names escape me right now.

I didn't recognise Ian Healy when I held a postcard and pen in front of him. These were people I'd only seen on television before. I consumed everything about cricket I could get my hands on – I still do.

Those early days of seeing England trounced more often or not didn't deter me. It felt that the Snooker, Horse racing or the cricket was on when we went to my great-grandma's for tea on a Saturday afternoon.

I was lucky to have not just international cricket but county cricket in the NatWest Trophy and Sunday League on free-to-air television. We weren't a family that bought into extravagances such as Sky Tv, and away from my grandma's house, I was the only one in my house who had any interest in the sport.

I started to go to games more regularly a few years later. In the holidays, there were trips to stay in Mansfield for at least a week usually. It meant I would go and watch Nottinghamshire in the summer and Sussex when back home.

Even when we had friends of the family over from Ireland, I would persuade them to play cricket with me.

It wasn't easy being a cricket fan. I was captain of the school cricket team, and every so often, we would win a game, but it wasn't a sport that most of the other kids would have played out of choice.

It was at university that I found others that liked the game. I still go to games with one of my friends from there.

I sometimes think it is easy to talk about how we get more people involved in cricket. It is a sport that has reminiscing about the past is ingrained into the experience. So it can be easy to think the way we found the sport is how it should continue.

The ECB has made mistakes in the way it has handled the Hundred. Those who oppose it have some very valid points. It's not an easy fix. Yes, we need to find new ways of introducing more audiences from places where cricket has an image problem.

Sticking it all on the BBC or Channel Four is not the primary solution. I don't think the geography of the sides helps. There are fans in Truro and Dover who have to travel far too far to make catching a game at the ground a viable option.

I'm hoping a lot has been learnt from this experience. Domestic women's cricket on television is a big deal, and we have to give credit where it is due. Let's not forget a lot of work still needs to be done.