We are Xennials CC, a wandering cricket team who favour weekday matches, declaration games, flamboyant teas and who harbour whimsical ambitions of playing in two day matches and touring India. 

Our name comes from the so called Xennials micro-generation into which most of us were born (1977 – 1985). Wedged between the scepticism of Generation X and the optimism of the Millenials, we pragmatic Xennials were the last generation to grow up in an analogue world. This has left us with a certain nostalgia for what has been lost in this era of The Hundred, TMO and Socials.

 

So extreme is this nostalgia that is stretches to a yearning for the return to timeless tests and a belief that batsmen should accept with Zen like equilibrium (gratitude even) whatever fate the umpire bestows upon them.

This isn’t to say we wouldn’t happily invite any GenXers or Millenials who share our ethos. We would of course happily open the door to Boomers, Z’ds and whoever comes next, if they were to down the devices, don their sheep’s wool jumpers and stand in gentle hush of our slip cordon. With us they need feel no pressure to plank every ball over long on, we are a safe space for them to play five watchful dots before check driving a single through the covers.

‘What ethos?’ some have appealed loudly from deep mid-wicket. To counter the view of the Xennials as a roguish, elusive, piratical, devil may care and somewhat mercurial cohort, we set out our ethos here:

• pursuit of romantic fixtures; picturesque grounds, far flung destinations, likeable opposition, excellent teas
• favour the longer format with maximum nuance; declaration games, two-day games, overseas tours, early starts, 
• utter acceptance of fate; always walk, thank the umpire no matter what, Sed Non Sunt (Out but never down)
• uphold tradition; perturbed by the rise of unseemly competitiveness (e.g. the Wimbledon crowd applauding unforced errors), the Xennial seeks, much like a Sumo wrestler, to compact their killer instincts into brief moments otherwise shrouded in extreme politeness
• affable engagement with opposition; having grown up answering the landline the Xennial is able to speak to people they have only just met on diverse topics
• moderation in cricket, the Xennial prefers a close game and always seeks to balance it so as to make good sport; having grown up in a bygone era, they are a counterpoint to the fanaticism of the late adopter
• excess in celebration; Xennials try not to fight to hard against their generational desire for banqueting, discos, post-match drinks, Christmas parties, general gaiety & revelry, etc