Cricket's in the blood - my dad loves it and my brother Simon

“Cricket’s in the blood—my dad loves it, and my brother Simon played for Middlesex before becoming a radio and TV cricket commentator.” Thus spoke Bettany Hughes, the historian and philosopher who delves deep into the stories of civilizations. In this simple reflection lies not only a memory of family but a truth as ancient as time itself—that the passions of the heart are not merely taught, but inherited, carried like sacred fire from one generation to the next. For what she describes is not just a sport, but a legacy, a thread of meaning passed through love, example, and shared devotion.

When Bettany Hughes says, “Cricket’s in the blood,” she speaks not only of her family’s affection for the game but of the deeper way in which certain pursuits become part of a family’s spirit—woven into their stories, their laughter, their very way of being. The father who loves the game plants in his children the seed of passion, not through command but through presence—through the gleam in his eyes when he speaks of a match, the stillness of a summer afternoon as the ball arcs through the air, the reverence with which he honors the art of patience and timing. From such moments are legacies born—not of wealth or name, but of devotion.

In this way, cricket becomes not merely a pastime, but a language of inheritance. The brother, Simon, who carried the family’s love onto the field, embodied the tradition through action. He played not only for Middlesex, but for the spirit of those afternoons shared with his father. When he laid down his bat and took up the microphone as a commentator, he did not leave the game behind—he became its storyteller, its guardian, its voice. Thus, the circle of inheritance widened: from the father’s passion to the son’s performance, from the son’s performance to the world’s understanding.

This pattern echoes through the stories of the ancients. Consider the Olympic athletes of Greece, whose devotion to sport was not born of ambition alone but of sacred lineage