A bit more retail therapy

My veins are throbbing with the endorphins of hard cash spent. It may be a little strange to be shelling out so close to season's end but never mind that.

My first purchase was an old copy of Clarrie Grimmett's "Getting Wickets". £30 seems a lot for a beat-up old paperback but Wisden describes it as "one of the finest of coaching manuals, which should be reissued and distributed to every school and club in these monotonous times of pace, pace and more pace" so hopefully there should be plenty of food for thought in there. That's my gentle reading over the close season sorted then.

A more run-of-the-mill purchase is some sunglasses, but it's about time I had some as in all the matches I've played I have suffered a bit with the sun. I can't use the sunglasses I use when driving as they're prescription so wouldn't work with the contact lenses I wear when playing. I've also bought 10 assorted "slightly substandard" cricket balls, as I don't want to get too hung up on one type of ball or another - I need to be able to give any ball a good rip.

Then I've bought another compression shirt. I've been very happy with the one I've got in terms of it improving my posture and reducing any aches or pains after a long bowling session or a match, but it's pretty hot in there and it's a bit of a faff to have it washed and drip-dried in time every week. I've got myself a long-sleeve version with some sort of menthol thing that makes it feel cooler, and with two I can use the old one for nets on Thursday and the new one for matches on Saturday.

Finally I've invested in some new thigh pads. So far I've been using some all-in-one shorts that have just about done the job but have been pretty substandard in several areas. They're a faff to put on, and there a faff to take off, I have to spend time putting on or taking off the shorts between innings, they fit badly, they're uncomfortable to sit in when I'm waiting to bat, and they restrict my movement and running when I am batting. In short, they're not even close to good enough. I had a look at AERO's range of cricket equipment and was biblically impressed with the amount of thought they put into everything, not least the asymmetric batting pads with a square section to reduce pad-to-bat catches! So I've bought some "Strippers" in the P2 range, as I don't think I'll be facing Brett Lee any time soon. Hopefully they'll do the job and help me move around the crease a bit better, but if they're at least a bit less faff and a bit more comfortable they'll be an improvement.