Henry Cupitt is thankful for the persistence of wife Eva.
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Otherwise he might still be back in England and enduring a third national lockdown due to the coronavirus ravaging the country, rather than enjoying spending time with his family in Upper Horton and enjoying a bit of cricket too.
On Saturday he will make his third appearance for South Tamworth as they chase first-innings points against West Tamworth after posting 265.
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"The last few times I've come back [home] I haven't played, so this time I was like, I'll bring my kit," Cupitt said.
In what was a bit of a full-circle moment for the former Central North junior representative, he also helped coach the Central North under-16s at the recent Bradman Cup carnival.
"It's a bit surreal coaching," he said. "I think the year the [under-16] boys were born was when I played."
Still, he enjoyed the experience. Coaching junior cricket teams was something The Armidale School alumnus did before heading over to the UK seven years ago.
"I'd been over there before, when I was 18, and I sort of always wanted to go back," said Cupitt, who was master in charge of cricket at TAS.
Then the opportunity to play cricket over there came up, and he immersed himself in what is a well-trodden path for Aussie cricketers.
Cupitt is based in Royal Tunbridge Wells when in England. He said the destination was "a nice sort of country town about an hour out of London".
He has also spent time in Bournemouth, Hastings and London.
His stint in England has been an enriching experience that has included playing at Lord's and working at the famed ground while engaged in club development at Middlesex Country Cricket Club. Lord's is the club's main home.
Cupitt is a level-two accredited coach in England, and has established his own coaching business in the country. Between coaching the juniors at a premier league club nearby and other coaching roles, and his private coaching, it keeps him "pretty busy"; coaching now how he makes a living.
"It's only the last sort of two years I've sort of gone into coaching full time," he said.
With two young kids, he had had a rich life in England - until COVID hit.
Recording it's first COVID case in January, the UK has been one of the hardest hit countries.
"It's really weird, some days things are fine then the next day it's not," Cupitt said.
"So you don't know whether you're going to work or you're not going to work, whether your kids are going to nursery or not going to nursery."
Leaving England was also an uncertain proposition, with Eva calling airlines every day. They were bumped off five flights before managing to finally get one just before Christmas.
"It was quite tricky, and financially it was a bit of a strain as well - not knowing what was going on," he said. "So it was quite frustrating, but we got there in the end. We got lucky."
Upon arriving in Australia, the couple went into a two-week quarantine period with their three-year-old and 10-month-old children.
"The fact that we got to come home for Christmas, that was the light at the end of the tunnel; that was the carrot dangling for us," Cupitt said.
The plan is for the family to return to England. But with the current dire COVID situation in the UK, the couple are in no hurry to get back.
"The kids are having a pretty good time over here in the summer, so I'm not going to take them back there any time soon," Cupitt said.
He hinted at maybe even having a run for Barraba in the 2021 Central North rugby season.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Old Boys will be looking to build on their first-innings lead against City United while Bective will resume at 1-13 in reply to North Tamworth's 157.
