"Geez, I just played cricket because I loved the game. I never thought about it much, never really had any formal coaching"
About this Quote
The subtext is older than modern high-performance cricket. Waugh is sketching a generational contrast between backyard apprenticeship and today’s pipeline of academies, private coaches, data, and early specialization. “I never thought about it much” isn’t anti-intellectual; it’s an argument for feel over theory, for playing instincts you can’t spreadsheet. “Never really had any formal coaching” lands as both humblebrag and quiet critique: if I got here without the apparatus, maybe the apparatus isn’t the soul of the thing.
Context matters: Waugh’s public persona has long been stoic, unsentimental, tough-minded. This quote softens that image without betraying it. He’s not selling magic; he’s defending a romance of sport that’s increasingly under threat - the idea that love of the game is a training method. It’s a comforting story for fans and a challenging one for systems: passion scales poorly, but it’s still the raw material no program can manufacture.
Quote Details
| Topic | Sports |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Waugh, Steve. (2026, January 15). Geez, I just played cricket because I loved the game. I never thought about it much, never really had any formal coaching. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/geez-i-just-played-cricket-because-i-loved-the-162389/
Chicago Style
Waugh, Steve. "Geez, I just played cricket because I loved the game. I never thought about it much, never really had any formal coaching." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/geez-i-just-played-cricket-because-i-loved-the-162389/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Geez, I just played cricket because I loved the game. I never thought about it much, never really had any formal coaching." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/geez-i-just-played-cricket-because-i-loved-the-162389/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.


