NEU » visiting Acadie-Bath

Once upon a time, when Sundays were as cloudless as our clarity of purpose, we would have donned our whites and taken to the field, and there the modern world would be held at bay for a few sweet, sweet hours by its great antidote, village cricket. But the wheel of fate is ever spinning and before long we slid off the teamsheet, distracted by family, work and the myriad other calls upon our time. Sulking in our tents like so many modern-day Achilleses, we could only slowly appreciate when the game might fit back into our lives, or we might fit our lives back into the game. And when, finally, we are tempted back into the fray, we search for our old armour in vain.And theres the rub: what do we do about equipment? Do we kit ourselves up to the eyeballs or just stroll out with the barest of bare necessities? Theres a fine line to be walked here, and its the one between the pavilion and the middle. And back.As we all know, cricket is played largely in the head (certainly my best innings have taken place there), but its not just our attitude or expectations that count: the opposition has a part to play here, too. No one wants to be that player, do they? The one whose journey to the middle (and back again) is accompanied by the fateful words all the gear, no idea.But if we judge a player by the gear they sport, or their journey to the crease, we are fools and may well end up hoist by our own petard.I am told that when I walk out to bat against a new team, they can be somewhat worried. Not because my swagger is akin to that of some legendary Greek warrior, my bat cutting slices in the air like a demiurges scimitar, but because my gait is, well, Im not sure how best to describe it, other than to say it wouldnt strike fear into your average penguin. Teams have been known to ask the umpire if they should bowl nicely, and how the hell Im going to run between the wickets.But my problem with cricket isnt Parkinsons, its lack of talent. Of course, it doesnt help that my bat shakes, my feet wont move and my left-hand grip is fast diminishing, but once Im out of the blocks, Im plenty quick enough to steal singles. My appearance makes expectations dip, however - and my life in the middle somewhat easier (sometimes). And my kit? As Nicholas Hogg pointed out recently, cricket can be an expensive pastime, but then, what hobby isnt? When I was 21 I taught at a contemporary-music school, and my evening classes were full of middle-aged men who, finding that they were suddenly richer in both time and money than they had been in 20 years, decided to revisit their youth in the shape of the electric guitar. You think crickets expensive? Try catching the guitar bug. These men would often show up to class with a different guitar each week, each worth more than my entire rig, while I was still playing the guitar I bought for ￡150 when I was 17. And you know what? These uber-axes didnt make them better guitarists, but they did have two very positive results (apart from keeping guitar makers in business). The high-quality guitar not only allows the player to squeeze that little bit more out of their ability, but, perhaps more importantly, it makes them feel good. And that, for me, is the point of the exercise.If theres a pastime more perfectly tailored for good-old-days romanticism than cricket, however, Ive yet to discover it. Hed never have got away with that if he had one of the old bats, Its all the fault of helmets, DRS is ruining everything, hang on, no, T20 is ruining everything, oh, wait, Covered pitches are ruining everything, and so on and on. The image of the old-timer with his fraying, ill-fitting pads and 20-year old bat coming to the middle and showing up the middle-aged arriviste with the hand-shaved wand and moulded thigh pad is as seductive as ever it was. But its not only a daft image, its unfair to both parties.Weve all played that shot before. You know, the one where body, bat and ball become one for a split-second and your spirit is electrified. You enter the realm of the truly sublime as you transcend time and space and the ball, oh, the ball. No one moves in the field, because everyone feels what you feel. Perfection. The nature of a really good bat is such that using it increases the chances of experiencing this harmonic convergence.Now, youre not going to tell me that our mythical old-timer isnt going to get more value from his shots using a good bat.I have a good bat - a very good bat, in fact. Every so often I play a shot that is almost worthy of it, causing one or other of the fielders to ask me what it is. I reckon its worth 20% of my runs over the course of a season, and more to the point, if I time a worthy shot early enough, my confidence soars. If Im out early, no ones any the wiser. (Im, ahem, between sponsors)The same goes for protective gear, except that not only does well-designed, well-made kit help you function better, it protects you better. As a keeper, I want the best gloves I can afford. They feel better, help me take more catches, and protect my hands better. In fact, I want fitted gloves, because my little finger never quite sits right and its vulnerable enough as it is. (If anyone fancies making me a pair, drop me a line.) I often see other, better keepers with greatly inferior gloves, and after getting over my embarrassment wonder why they dont step up a gear... in gear.What matters most in the professional game is results. There is no Armenian judge giving extra points for style, just a scorer marking down the result of each ball. Of course, pretty runs have a different psychological impact on the game than ugly runs do, but no team worth its salt picks a player who makes elegant 20s over one who makes ugly 60s. Do they? But we dont play the professional game. We play real cricket, recreational cricket. We are the giants on whose shoulders the professionals stand. In our game, its all about feeling good. Its a game we play for pleasure, and if it makes you feel good to play with a ￡400 bat, and you can afford it, then you just go for it. After all, youre effectively subsidising the whole cricket industry. And its almost Christmas.Dont forget, however, that while an awesome bat may allow you to get full value from your shots, it might just make a bowler take you more (or less) seriously than they ought, and it will certainly allow the opposition to get full value from your feathered edges. 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Varlamov made 33 saves and Ryan OReilly had a goal and scored in the shootout as the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Thursday night. Week 1 in the NFL usually features its share of surprises, and this season is no exception. From the Minnesota Vikings winning without an offensive touchdown to the New England Patriots winning without their two best players, theres no shortage to?sort through. Heres a look at which ones Im buying and which ones Im leaving on the shelf for now.Surprises Im buyingThe Lions without Calvin Johnson: The Lions finished their 39-35 victory at Indianapolis withh 213 yards after the catch, their most since Week 8 of the 2013 season.dddddddddddd Matthew Stafford used a short passing game to complete 31 of 39 passes for 340 yards and three scores. He now has 22 TDs with two picks in nine games with Jim Bob Cooter as his offensive coordinator.The Patriots competence without Tom Brady:? ' ' '