AFTER all that talk last week about Pennine League clubs possibly moving to the GMCL, a story caught my eye.

As I near my 50th birthday, I was interested to read about two bowlers much older than me still taking wickets in the Pennine League.

Apparently, Mel Whittle, who I played against in the Bolton League many times and must now be well into his 60s, took six wickets for Shaw, while an 84-year-old gentleman called Cec Wright claimed seven for Uppermill seconds.

What is going on there?

That definitely got me thinking, but I am standing firm – it’s 50 and out for me.

I was given a taste of life after cricket last weekend after, for the first time I can remember, I missed a game through illness.

I couldn’t even make it down to the ground, I was that sick, but you know what I ended up doing? I watched our lads get tonked live on CricHQ.

Now as far as I am concerned, if you can make it, you should be in the crowd watching your local side.

But for anyone chained to the toilet like I was, ball-by-ball coverage live online is a pretty good alternative.

The picture was great and you could follow the action in the square really well.

There are a couple of drawbacks, though. The camera is fixed, so doesn’t follow the ball. That means when someone smacks it out of view you don’t know what is happening – they could have hit a boundary or been caught out – you just have to use your imagination.

It’s also pretty eerie viewing as well as there is no sound.

There is something really odd about watching cricket without commentary.

CricHQ is definitely missing David Lloyd to make sense of it all, which got me thinking if there were any openings.

I don’t know what my missus would say about me hanging up my boots then commentating every weekend, but it would be a bit of fun.

Believe it or not, I have heard whispers about moves behind the scenes to do just that.

I could certainly see it working hand-in-hand with live cricket. You could sit in the balcony, earphones on. Not a bad way to wile away my retirement.

While I dream of putting my feet up, it it great to see there are some excellent youngsters coming through the ranks at Greenmount who, hopefully, one day will replace me.

Tom Heaton is already a fixture in the first team – man’s cricket – which probably explains why he and his Lancashire team-mates are tearing it up at under-17s level.

Well done on making it to the national finals, and well done to our U13s, who are the new Lancashire champions.