For Shogo Kimura, the first Japanese pro baseball player to convert to cricket, the challenge is not about starting from square one but about passion and becoming an even better athlete.

Having received no offers of a baseball contract following his Dec. 2 release by the Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball, Kimura was approached about trying a different bat-and-ball sport. He accepted the challenge, because, "It sounded fun."

Kimura said his wife, Azusa, was a huge factor in what has been an unlikely but joyful transition from injured utility infielder to aspiring cricketer.

"Because I've played baseball, cricket I think will be a plus for me," he told Kyodo News. "You hit, you run, you catch. But of course, I have a family to think of, so it needed to be discussed. I talked it over with my wife, and she said, 'It sounds interesting, don't you think?'"

"She knows I still have the passion to compete. But we never thought I'd have a chance to continue expressing it as I had been. Compared to baseball, which is such fun for me, she was thinking that whatever came next -- either being a company employee or businessman or player-coach -- would probably be a letdown."

"But when talk of cricket came, we thought this is kind of like what I want, something I could attack with the same passion, and she said, 'I think this is good for you.' So I said I'd do it."

Kimura, who will be 38 in April, suffered his first serious injury as a player on June 22, 2016. While taking part in infield practice, he damaged ligaments in his right knee and had surgery a month later. During his rehab, he got a view of life few Japanese players enjoy, an extended period of time with his family.

"All their lives, my (three) kids had been eating dinner while I had been at work, playing baseball," he said. "Now I'm home with them in the evening. It's a new experience for me and a good one for my family."

"It only occurred because I got hurt. I didn't want to get hurt, of course, but given the opportunity, I was determined to enjoy time with them. I didn't feel any sense of grievous loss at all. It was joyful all the time. My son told me he felt closer to me."

His wife, Kimura said, reinforced his natural inclination to see things in their best possible light.

"People around me were saying, 'Oh that's tough (being hurt). Doesn't it get you down?' They said that because they were concerned, but I was fine," Kimura said.

"I'm a positive person, and my wife is too. When I was injured I called her straight away to tell her and she laughed. Unbelievable."

"She said, 'Shogo, even you can get hurt.' That was so like her. And because she put it like that, I didn't get down. Of course, it might have been a serious injury, but you have to be positive and move forward, look toward the next step."

Kimura's next step is learning how to handle a cricket bat and hit balls deflecting up at him off the pitch at wicked and unpredictable angles. He's practicing both at the Japan Cricket Association's facility in Sano, Tochigi Prefecture, and with the Wyverns cricket club, based near his home in Tokyo's western suburbs.

But despite the obvious differences, such as continuing to bat until you are out, being able to hit the ball behind you and fielding without gloves, Kimura said his mental approach is the same.

"It doesn't feel like a huge change," he said. "The two sports are different, but as an athlete, one plays and wants to get better, to raise one's skill level. That desire, whether you play baseball or cricket, is identical. I want to be able to do more, more, more."

"I'm not throwing away baseball. I can't possibly erase baseball from my consciousness. But because I have experience in baseball, I want to use that as a plus in my pursuit of cricket."

"It feels both weird and fun at the same time. I came into this intent on making adjustments and that challenge is fun. If I can't do something and it's frustrating, my motivation just increases."

Kimura's long-term goal is to play at a high level abroad, although some major league baseball scouts familiar with players switching from cricket to baseball and vice versa, believe it would be an overwhelmingly difficult task for any player, not to mention one who is starting out just shy of his 38th birthday.

"There are so many huge adjustments he'll need to make to compete at a high level," said one scout from Australia with experience in both sports. "Still, it's going to be fun to watch and see how he does."