CRICKET AND KIT Charlie Campbell Authors XI vs Millichamp & Hall XI, 17 June, Chalke Valley
Seven per cent of men believe they could have been professional sportsmen if only they’d trained harder. From a survey by the British Heart Foundation
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om hit that six with a Newbery GT Five Star, weighing 2lb 10oz. I know this because I chose it for him – it was a gift from the team he has run for over twenty years. For many people, including Tom, this bat is the least interesting aspect of his sporting feat. But there are many of us who place huge importance on our cricket kit, fetishising bits of leather and wood in an alarming way. We travel armed with linseed oil, bat tape and other superfluous items that are almost never required, but we feel almost bereft without them. A builder was in my flat the other day. Surveying the mess, mostly cricketing in nature, he asked me if I was a professional cricketer. ‘Semi-professional,’ I replied happily. I like cricket kit and own quite a lot of it. I think it makes me better at the game. Sometimes, of course, it makes me worse – like the