Retirement blog about superstition increasing with age?

The question I would like to ask in this retirement blog is, do we get more superstitious as we get older? I only ask because I think it is possible that I am (getting more superstitious) and I wondered whether it was just me. I’ve always slightly inclined towards being a bit superstitious. Just the usual small foibles – blinking at one magpie, a slight hint of pleasure at sighting two; of course avoiding walking under ladders, a slight smile when a black cat crosses in front of me. That sort of thing. Nothing exceptional.

And how many times have I given up watching a game of footy, with my team 2 nil down, in the belief that, without the curse of my presence / support, I’ll wake up in the morning to find they’ve won or at the very least snatched a draw in the last minute.

But these last few weeks my sporting superstitious has risen to a different level. This has happened while watching cricket. Now cricket is a game well-known for breeding rampant superstition. I suppose it comes about because there is no sport in which one of the teams spends hours on end sitting in the dressing room while two of their team attempt to compete with the eleven players in the opposing team. Throw in what many would regard as typical English summer weather, i.e. rain stopping play, and you have the perfect setting for idle superstitions to flourish.

Tales of players and support staff being forced to remain in exactly the same seat while their teammates are out there competing, even though they’re busting for a pee, are legendary. Woe betide the man or woman (not sure whether women cricketers are as superstitious as men, interesting question) who changes their position / activity / vista and by so doing ‘causes’ the player on the field to ‘get out’. For that is how it will be seen. If you understand cricket you will know of what I speak if you don’t then this will seem as full of gibberish as the game itself.

As I say, I mention this now because, even though my levels of superstition are already fairly high in a sporting context, they may be getting worse / higher. For example, even though I pay a lot of money a month to be able to watch cricket ‘live’ on Sky Sports, I don’t do so. I prefer to follow the game on my phone – no pictures, just an every few minute up-date.

I don’t think I could even begin to explain why I believe England will do better if I follow their progress on my phone rather than watching them on TV. It’s just plain bonkers, I admit. The only exception to this ‘rule’ is when I judge that, if I switch on the TV at a point when England are so far ahead, they couldn’t possibly lose from this position, so my starting to ‘spectate’ couldn’t possibly affect the outcome. Mostly this works. Between that last word – outcome – and this next one ‘mostly’ there is a gap of more than an hour while the gas cooker started to fill the house with toxic fumes. Not nice. Am I superstitious about being blown up by a gas cooker? No, just stupid things.

Where was I? Oh right, cricket and superstition. And the sub-question, have I got more superstitious as I’ve got older. I think I have and this might be something to do with attempting to hold back the tides of my demise. I’m guessing that superstition is all about trying to control one’s life. If I get the black cat to cross in front of me, I’ll have a stroke (of good fortune) not just a brain stroke. Two magpie, more good fortune. If I avoid x then y will not happen. Perfectly logical in a way. If only life were that simple and could be controlled so effectively.

So all this really came into focus while the last cricket game of the summer was going on. As it was England and Australia the result was particularly important. Because it was the last game I’d be watching for who knows how long, I decided to risk my negative impact and watch the game live on TV from the beginning.

Result? England lost 2 wickets in the first two balls of the match without scoring a run. So much for me not affecting the game. Bugger this, I thought, we’ll take the dogs for their afternoon walk right now. So I left the game behind and we walked the pups. As we were getting near to home (about 45 minutes later) I sneaked a look on my phone. You’ll remember, in my view, this does not affect the game. Sure enough England had lost no further wickets and were doing quite well.

As we got home I realised that I had left the TV on while we were out. I peered through the house windows at the screen. The minute I did this, another wicket fell (Buttler) and I hadn’t even got in the bloody house and my pernicious influence already brought to bear.

Again, bugger this and turned it off. As is my bizarre habit I continued to monitor the game on my phone. Without my influence England did quite well with their batting and then even better when bowling. Australia were 5 wickets down for not many runs. This was one of those ‘I can’t possibly f— it up now, we’ve practically won’. As if to emphasise the conclusion when I turned it on Australia immediately lost another wicket.

There we are, I said to myself, I’m not a negative influence after all. I’ve just imagined it. But wait, said the God of cricket, that is a ‘no ball’. If you’re not a cricket follower you probably already gave up reading this blog or never started, so no point me trying to explain what a ‘no ball’ is. But, put simply, it means that the player was in fact not out. And Australia did not lose another wicket for 200 runs, until, from a completely hopeless position, they won (with my help) the game and hence the three game series, two – one and this result will live with me for who knows how many months.

So yes, I think I have become more superstitious particularly where sport is concerned as I’ve got older but when you consider the bloody facts of this experience, who can blame me. This was not just random chance, nothing to do with sporting skills. These were the mystical events of a higher order of which superstition is a part.