generous clubs who subsidise the less well-heeled player

With an empty Coke can, a plastic bottle, or even just a stone, we used to play football. Drop down a pair of jumpers for goalposts and you have an instant pitch in classrooms, corridors, and even the little patio at my grandmas house, where I played epic matches against my sister. To form a basic game of football cost absolutely nothing. And yes, cricket too: with improvised bats from bits of wood and balls shaped from scrunched-up paper. You can pretend to be a national legend when stroking a sphere of rubbish along the floor with a rolled-up umbrella.However, if you actually take the field and formally upgrade, the financial costs of playing football and cricket rapidly diverge.Ask Durham, relegated from top-flight cricket because they couldnt balance their books.Ask mum and dad when their son or daughter picks up a bat.Ask the club cricketer walking to the crease on a Saturday afternoon, where the rising price of playing is at its most extortionate. Before even being picked for his team, the treasurer will have asked for his annual subs, and while not as wallet-emptying as joining a golf club, these could be anything from ￡100 upwards, along with a weekly match fee - the last time I played league cricket, this was ￡15 a game.Still, our amateur is eager, and he has paid his bills and is striding to the middle. Depending on whether he wants his boots to fall apart before he scores that century, or he rightly understands that his feet are precious - my dad once broke his ankle darting for a quick single when one set of spikes stuck and the others slipped - and need support, he could have forked out anything from ￡20 for a pair of clodhoppers to ￡125 for a pair of cutting- edge Asics that promise to help him run quicker between the wickets.Inside this boot is a sock - white, because no one rates a player wearing any other colour. And for a day standing in the field this sock might include ventilation channels and be constructed from choice Merino wool and polypropylene to wick away moisture and set you back ￡10-￡15 a pair. And unless youre a cricket brute who thinks its okay to take guard in a pair of chinos, youll be wearing whites: a shirt and pair of trousers that may or may not be included in your team subs.Youre dressed for the sport and youve paid to be on the pitch. Now you need protection.Before pads, the Gentlemen and Players of yesteryear would suffer gangrene from cricket-ball welts. So you don modern leg guards that make you look like a stormtrooper, especially in addition to that brand new helmet, the second one you have bought in two seasons as your old lid didnt conform to the latest ECB British standard regulations banning movable grilles. Still, safety is paramount, and if your teeth get knocked out, your dentist becomes part of the cricket-cost equation, rather than the landlord after you buy that round in the pub after the game. Besides, at your level, batting on the occasional minefield wicket, you need all the defence you can get against a ball weighing 5? ounces, travelling up to 90mph - not to mention costing anything from ￡5 (if you want to bowl with something shaped liked a potato after ten overs) to ￡90. You also need hand-stitched gloves (even cheap gloves are handmade, due to their design complexity) to defend your digits, and a priceless box. Finally, and most importantly - and most expensive - your bat. Your beloved blade, an extension of your body. The bat you choose represents something of your character, and perhaps your financial situation. Some men buy flashy cars in a mid-life crisis, others buy bats. Interviewed on Test Match Special this season, fellow writer Jon Hotten wondered if the pricey clefts of his team-mates would ever make more runs than they had cost in pounds. The problem is that bat quality does tend to equal bat price. You can get lucky with a bargain plank, and find the middle pings even when the grain wavers and the knots spoil the finish, but the best willow will cost.So there our club player stands, kitted out and settled up with the treasurer, ready to face his first ball of the season, a delivery that will pitch on a wicket tended and maintained by professional ground staff. Even the mangiest of park tracks will, despite appearances, have been mowed, weeded, scarified and rolled. A strip will have been painted on, sightscreens erected, and quite possibly an umpire who is not one of your mates will be adjudicating, and expecting a few quid in exchange for listening to bowlers swear at him all afternoon.Cricket costs. It drains pockets of the impoverished keen. Its simply not a cheap sport when played properly, and I do wonder how many kids from less privileged backgrounds dont get into the game because they, or their parents, cant afford it. Good schools, usually private, provide proper facilities. Bad comprehensives cant afford a manicured square and paid coaches. Vandals set fire to my own schools artificial strip a week after it was laid.Thankfully, beyond the governing bodies who ultimately dole out cash coming in from the clubs, amateur players and spectators, there are benefactors: sponsors, broadcasters, great charities, like Chance to Shine, dedicated mums and dads who dig deep so their children can take the pitch in proper whites and proper kit, and the generous clubs who subsidise the less well-heeled player.Cricket costs, but its also a sport people obsess about. A sport we love. And when were in love, we find a way. Cheap Nike Air Max 95 China . PETERSBURG, Fla. Nike Air Max 95 Black Mens Sale . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. http://www.wholesale95airmax.com/air-max-97-off-white.html . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Air Max 97 Vapormax Cheap . Pirlo limped out of Sundays 1-0 win over Udinese after just 13 minutes. Juventus says Pirlo underwent tests on Monday which revealed he has "a second-degree lesion to the collateral medial ligament in his right knee. Cheap Air Max 95 Free Shipping . As the crowd erupted, Davis knocked the ball off the glass and back into his hands. With 1:14 to go in overtime, Davis sixth block also became his 17th rebound. That, along with his 32 points -- which tied a career high -- proved too much for Denver to overcome, and the Pelicans held on for their third straight victory, 111-107 on Sunday night. Manchester Uniteds attacking problems continued as it lost to Fenerbahce 2-1 in the Europa League on Thursday, leaving it at risk of a group-stage exit.United beat Fenerbahce 4-1 at Old Trafford a fortnight ago, but arrived in Turkey after drawing with Burnley 0-0, during which it dominated and had 37 chances.Again, Jose Mourinhos side failed to convert a glut of possession into goals, but this time it also struggled to create opportunities. Its attacking intent increased briefly after Zlatan Ibrahimovic replaced the injured Paul Pogba half an hour in.Uniteds struggles in front of goal, however, are being reflected by Ibrahimovic, who netted five goals in as many matches to get his United career off to a flying start, but has managed to score just once in the last 11 matches.They deserved to win. Football is not just about quality, its about effort, commitment, playing the limits, and giving everything, Mourinho said. A team that concedes a goal after two minutes is a team that is not ready, is a team that is not mentally prepared, not focused, not concentrated ...After their second goal we had a reaction ... but we didnt deserve more. Our problem started in our attitude. They were playing the Champions League final and we were playing a summer friendly.Uniteds David De Gea was by far the busier goalkeeper.Moussa Sow put Fenerbahce in front after only 66 seconds with a stunning overhead kick from just inside the area, and Jermaine Lens doubled the Turkish sides lead with a magnificent free kick in the 59th, much to the delight of a raucous home crowd. De Gea hardly moved for it.Wayne Rooney netted a late consolation, smashing the ball in from 30 yards to move level with Ruud van Nistelrooy on 38 European goals for United. The captain is two goals from tying Bobby Charltons record of 249 for United.Fenerbahce leapfrogged United into top spot in Group A, level on points with Feyenoord, which drew at Zorya Luhansk 1-1. United slipped to third, one point off the pace.Heres a look at other matches:SOUTHAMPTON 2, INTER MILAN 1Inter Milan interim coach Stefano Vecchi knew he facced a daunting task when he stepped in for the sacked Frank de Boer just two days ago.ddddddddddddThe first half went well for the youth team coach as Mauro Icardi fired Inter in front.There was drama in first-half stoppage time as Southampton was awarded a somewhat soft penalty when the ball hit Ivan Perisic on the elbow. Inter players protested, and Antonio Candreva was fortunate not to be sent off after elbowing Sam McQueen in the face.Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic, a spot-kick specialist, dove to his left to keep out Dusan Tadics tame penalty attempt.Southampton turned the match around in five second-half minutes.A corner fell to Oriol Romeu, whose effort crashed off the crossbar, but Virgil van Dijk, who troubled Inter all match, fired in the rebound to level. Shortly after, McQueens deflected cross bounced off Yuto Nagatomos knee and past a hapless Handanovic.Southampton remained second in Group K, two points behind Sparta Prague, which beat Hapoel Beer Sheva 2-0. Inter was bottom, six points behind Sparta, with its only points coming from the home win against Southampton.ATHLETIC BILBAO 5, GENK 3Aritz Aduriz netted all five goals for Bilbao to hand the Spanish side a much-needed win in Group F. With two penalties, Aduriz put his side 3-1 up at the break. Genk closed to within one, but Aduriz scored his fourth and converted his third penalty in stoppage time.Bilbao moved level on points with Genk on top of the group, one above Sassuolo and Rapid Vienna, who drew 2-2 in Italy after two goals in the final five minutes for the visitors.OTHER MATCHESFour sides qualified for the next stage, with two matches to spare.Zenit St Petersburg and Shakhtar Donetsk just needed to avoid defeat, and the Russian side battled past Dundalk 2-1 in Group D, while Shakhtar won at KAA Gent 5-3 to clinch top spot in Group H.Ajax was also through after beating Celta Vigo 3-2, while Schalke sealed its spot in the round of 32 with a 2-0 win over FK Krasnodar. ' ' '