RICHARD Earle admits he holds a “privileged position” in world cricket.

The 39-year-old cricket writer, who lives in Adelaide, South Australia, is among the visiting Press corps in this country to cover the one-day NatWest Series against England that started on Friday.

As well as reporting on the Australian team his job involves covering the state’s Sheffield Shield side, the South Australian Redbacks, and the T20 side the Adelaide Strikers, whose home matches are all played at the Adelaide Oval – one of the most beautiful cricket grounds in the world.

Richard has based himself in Felixstowe either side of the series with his family – wife Caroline and their two children, two-year-old Oliver and Jessica, who is just three months old.

Caroline is the daughter of former Felixstowe bowler Keith Sale, who played for the club when they were a leading light in Division One of the Two Counties Championship and still lives in the seaside resort, and the Earles are staying with Keith and wife Judy.

Richard and Caroline met at a Test match in South Africa in 2002 while they were both on holiday in Cape Town. Caroline moved to Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory to be with Richard the following year, before he landed the job of cricket writer on the Adelaide Advertiser.

The couple, who married in 2010, have lived in Adelaide ever since. Richard is employed by News Ltd and is covering the NatWest Series for not only the Adelaide Advertiser but also the Brisbane Courier Mail, Hobart Mercury, Melbourne Herald Sun, Northern Territory News, Perth Sunday Times and Sydney Daily Telegraph.

Richard, who will be filing reports for both print and web during the series, said of his job: “It is a privileged position. You don’t ever wake up saying you don’t want to go to work.

“Sometimes I can be covering a domestic game and there are not very big crowds watching, but there are still quality players like Ricky Ponting and up-and-coming players like Pat Cummins.

“The quality of domestic cricket in Australia is still very high and is getting better again.

“With the Tests and one-day internationals at Adelaide there is always top-quality cricket in town. The Adelaide Test is the best Test in the Australian calendar in terms of atmosphere and we get 30-35,000 attending on the first three days of each Test.”

Richard is one of only four cricket writers covering the tour, and it is possible he may return for next year’s Ashes Series.