Love Island star Hughes' passion for cricket runs deep

"You’ve got to make women aware you play cricket before it gets too serious," says the man who finished third in the hit reality TV show in 2017

^{Chris Hughes is a big cricket enthusiast}

Love Island star Chris Hughes has enjoyed playing the field at times – but his lifelong love affair is cricket. In fact, you could say he is flying the flag for stubborn old cricket in the ephemeral world of reality TV.

If only the 25-year-old had the time to play more frequently. Since returning from Love Island – Majorca, to be precise – with a third-place finish in late July 2017, he has played only two league matches for his beloved club, Bourton Vale CC in Gloucestershire. He also plays football for Bourton Rovers.

Hughes, a useful swing bowler and middle-order batsman, made his first appearance of the season in the West of England Premier League (Gloucestershire) last Saturday. The day before, he took the crucial wicket of former England captain Michael Vaughan to seal victory for the Tailenders against TMS in their televised match at Derby.

But does Hughes ever get flak from his team-mates back home for never being available?

“No, I don’t actually!” he told The Cricketer. “I think they're understanding. We do give each other a lot of stick as a team, though, so there’s a lot of banter flying around. It is what it is. I think they do miss me from time to time.

“I played one game at the tail-end of last season, when I found a bit of time on a Saturday after Love Island. I got a seven-for [7-44 v Chipping Sodbury]. And this game is the first game after that. It’s been about a year. I was roped in to play away at Stroud.”

^{Hughes plays in Gloucestershire for Bourton Vale}

That’s Jack Russell country – though it’s hard to imagine two more different cricketing personalities.

Hughes admits: “I just try and get it nipping it about a bit. I just try to bowl good lines and lengths. Overcast conditions help me.”

The day after the match at Derby, on his return to the more competitive environment of league cricket – two divisions below ECB Premier League level – Hughes bowled six wicketless overs and was bowled for 11.

But, back in 2014, before he was famous, Hughes had an amazing glut of run-scoring for Bourton Vale’s 2nd XI.

“I had three tons on the bounce: 177 away at Apperley in a 45-over match. We put on 281 for the first wicket, me and my friend Jay [Mosson, who made 136], I was in good nick. I got 120 and 101 after that, then fifty-something [54] and the form just went!”

Hughes would surely be a crucial part of the Bourton Vale 1st XI campaign were his summer diary not so busy, having played county age-group level as a youngster.

“I hate saying this because it just sounds a bit muggy, but I had three years at Gloucestershire at junior county level – under-12 to under-14. And then district cricket in Gloucestershire.

"My brother, Ben, he could have made it. But he didn’t really have the interest in it.

“I think it happens a lot with cricket. You play 45-over, 50-over cricket matches and it takes up your whole Saturday, and when you’re a youngster it’s not necessarily what you want to be doing. You’ve got to be persistent if you want to get places, though. But I wish I’d stuck at one sport, I'm not sure which one…”

^{The Love Island star shot to fame in 2017}

Reality TV fame has given Hughes the chance to dip in to celebrity cricket matches, including an appearance in Ryan Sidebottom’s testimonial match at Boston Spa last season. He is likely to be an automatic pick for anyone looking to get a celebrity cricket team together.

“I’m really good friends now with Jonny Bairstow and a few of the other Yorkshire lads now. Jack Leaning, Jack Brooks, Azeem Rafiq…

“Paul Collingwood was a hero of mine as a youngster. He’s a fellow Mackem as well. I’m a big Sunderland fan, so we share the love there.”

But Hughes admits that most people he meets in the celebrity world are none the wiser about cricket.

“Well, a lot people don’t really understand cricket. There’s a bit of bemusement about it. But I’m from the Cotswolds so cricket’s quite a big sport around there. A lot of people play it – and I’ve played it all my life. I played every sport, really, but cricket was one I was reasonably good at.

“The women [I meet] don’t understand it, they don’t like it, I don't think! But if it’s a passion of yours, you’ve got to make them aware of it before [a relationship] gets too serious!”

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