Well Christmas has been and gone for another year, and I for one must have been a good boy as my present wish list was certainly answered.

As Christmas morning dawned I was actually up before the kids and eager to get on with the unwrapping marathon that comes with a family of four. As the chaos of discarded wrapping paper began to mount on the living room floor I unearthed my first cricket related present.

It was the biggest present with my name on it, and even before the wrapping had been attacked I had a good idea of the contents from the shape. It was a new set of batting pads. Very nice and replace my old ones which were bought for me while I was still at school about 18 years ago !

Other presents came and went, and then the second cricketing related item appeared. This time in the form of a pair of batting shorts with built in thigh pad and inner thigh pad. Just what is required when facing pace bowlers, as one on the inner thigh can be a killer !

As the presents were drawing to an end there was one final cricketing item that had still to be unwrapped. This time it was a book of cricket trivia. Certainly a stocking filler, but very interesting and will definitely come in handy on quiet news days for the website when I need a filler article !

I had a great Christmas and I am looking forward to the new season more than ever.