It happened by “coincidence.”I had just left a meeting in Sydney and contacted the Uber driver that had dropped me in the center of town, to see if he could come back and get me. Negative. He was too far out. Sad, but not distraught, I pulled up the app which signaled a random driver.
I stood in the midst of the hustle and bustle trying to wrap my head around the plans for American Cricketers. I contemplated the journey up to this point, how many thought we’d not get this far. “Cricket in the states is a pipe dream,” some said. “You’re wasting your time,” said others.
These thoughts followed me into the car and the pleasantries commenced, the annoying dialogues of the past almost a subconscious soundtrack as I explained my accent, why I was there and from what meeting I left. I waited for the standard, “I didn’t know they played cricket in the United States,” response. It never came.
The response instead was, “well, if you’re looking for equipment, I have a friend, she’s Canadian. She loves cricket and she created an entire line of cricket products.”My mouth hung open just a bit.
He continued nonchalantly, not realizing that he just gave me information worth more (to me, anyway) than a winning Powerball ticket. “So, if you’re looking for some other things to sell, I could give you her details,” he concluded.
After an enthusiastic, “Yes!” from me, he realized he didn’t have them. Gutted, I handed over mine, prayed they wouldn’t get lost in a shuffle of papers and got out in Annandale, replaying the conversation over and over and over again in my head, quieting the voices of the past which plagued me just minutes before.
I waited for what seemed like an eternity. Truth be told, it was more like four days.
I got a call from Cathy, the absolutely lovely, brilliant Canadian woman behind StickyWicky. After weeks of trying to meet up (that, my friends, is another tale), she was able to finally tell me -her-story over herbal tea and coffee in an oceanside Sydney suburb.
I hung on every word.“What is the likelihood,” I began, “that a cricket-mad American woman, and a cricket-mad Canadian woman, would each create their own cricket enterprise, then ‘randomly’ meet in Australia, and make plans to join forces.”
“Not very likely,” she responded.
“It’s meant to be,” I stated. “We’re meant to do this and it will be amazing.”
“We are, and it will.”
– Lili Stephenson
