In his captivating book, '1973 and Me', Colin Babb describes the joy he derived from watching the John Player League:

"One Sunday afternoon in 1973, I settled into the living room at home and prepared to watch The Big Match football highlights. I had a lively exchange of views with my Barbadian father about whether we should watch The Big Match or live coverage of a John Player League cricket match on BBC2. After our chat, I conceded and considered watching the cricket instead. Within a few weeks of watching John Player League cricket, I looked forward to being entertained by each Sunday afternoon fixture."

Colin adds that watching the John Player League was one of his main visual cricket education aids.

The book also describes the experience of Neil Sillett, watching the competition at home in Norfolk during its' early years:

"as a child, I'd sit on my little stool in our living room and watch a John Player League cricket match on the TV. We had one of those old fashioned 1960s coffee tables with four spindly little legs. I'd mark up a piece of paper with 40 squares, put the paper down on our table, sit on my stool and, in my knowing way, try to score the match ball-by-ball."

Anthony Gibson

Of Didcot And The Demon (Fairfield Books)

"[Humpage] is the kind of name Bunyan might have given to a wicketkeeper; had he not felt convicted of a sin while playing [cricket] on a Sunday, we might never have had Pilgrim's Progress, which would have been almost a serious a deprivation as the loss of the John Player League."

Matt Thacker