As an Indian, it was inevitable that I chose the India-Pakistan warm-up game over others to see on Monday. It was my first experience at the Premadasa. And for once, being away from concrete settings of the cricket grounds in metropolitan cities of India was a relief. The humongous old-fashioned scoreboard and the never ending entertainment by the groundside add great value to the ground’s atmosphere.
Warm-up or otherwise, India-Pakistan games are always entertaining. Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik may have bruised the experience a bit for all Indian fans present, therefore the best antidote seemed a quick trip to a top line cricket store to ease the pain.
Dilshan Munaweera’s fan Chandimal, a tuk tuk driver, took me to The Cricket Shop at St. Andrews. A personal agenda was to check out the Gray Nicolls goods there, as they are not available back home.
The range and variety of goods available here are top-notch and is a must visit for school, club and even international players and teams. The Cricket Shop is an official agent for goods from across the world.
Goods range from RNS, BAS, RNS, SS from India, Gray Nicolls, Stanford and Gunn & Moore from England, Kookaburra and Puma from Australia to CA from Pakistan. Training gear with customized balls to perfect the art of swing-bowling, reverse-swing bowling are available as well.
“Interestingly, the interest is moving from English-made bats like Gray Nicolls to Indian made bats like SS Gladiator after Sri Lankans like Kumar Sangakkara have started using them. CA bats are as popular and fast moving like others,” says Rila Mohamed, Director – Administration, here at the shop.
In a freewheeling chat, Mr. Mohamed reveled that top Sri Lankan cricketers visit the store to check out the gear on offer. When asked if they deal in making personalized bats for the International stars, Mr. Mohamed said, “Most players get their bats straight from the manufacturer as it is easy for them to get bats custom-made. We offer similar bats that international players use with carrying weight distributions that international players prefer. Sometimes, when there is a shortage of gear from the manufacturer, the players get the gear from our stores.”
In a free wheeling chat with Rila Mohamed, Director – Administration, The Cricket Shop.
The walls of the store give a glimpse of glorious history of the store. Walls are embellished with cricketers of yore to the best of the present. For young Sri Lankans in their teens and those worshipping the ’96 Champions, the pictures that adorn the walls from the ’96 world cup would bring back fond memories. For keen fans of the game who collect players’ autographs, you’d have a gala time hunting for your favourite player’s autograph in the white board at the store that is home to hundreds of autographs of international stars that have visited the store.
The training gears and the quality of the goods are excellent, and so is the knowledge of the staff at the store. For advice, recommendation for a young cricketer or for a seasoned club player, The Cricket Shop is the place to be.
PS: A full video interview of the interview will appear on the site shortly.
The CouchExpert 