Ed O'Brien tells Wisden cricket was his refuge before music

Ed O'Brien has talked cricket for two hours with Felix White, formerly of the Maccabees, in an interview Wisden has now published. They met after the first of Radiohead's four sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden in July.

Cricket was the first place I found solace as a kid, before music. These were my refuges. I had that obsessive thing.

Ed O'Brien¹

It started in 1976, watching West Indies beat England at the Oval on television in Oxford and wanting to know what bat Viv Richards was holding (an SS Jumbo). In 1985, aged 17, he took the train to Edgbaston and saw David Gower make a double century, which he puts alongside seeing U2 the same year.

He sees a great gig and a big match as the same kind of ceremony. After the chaos of their early years, he says, the band have learned to walk on stage relaxed. On the best nights he can slow his breathing and his heart rate the way the great batsmen seem to stretch time.

I could divide the bar up, a four-beat bar into 32 or 64s, and play anywhere on that beat. It was the most intoxicating feeling.

Ed O'Brien¹

The idea came from Eugen Herrigel's Zen in the Art of Archery, and he has meditated for 20 minutes a day for 17 years.

His last game was against Richard Thompson's XI, in a match a newly signed Coldplay played in too. O'Brien retired on 50.

Occasionally in interviews we get asked, 'What do you think of Coldplay?' I just say, 'Chris is a really good fast bowler'.

Ed O'Brien¹