The following article has been copied from the BBC website as I thought it may be of interest to our ageing squad.

If a 40 year old can make a playing comeback to first class cricket there is no excuse for us moaning about aches and pains at our level;

Surrey have signed former England all-rounder Chris Lewis for this season's Twenty20 tournament.

Lewis, 40, retired in 2000 but has recently played Twenty20 for the Professional Cricketers Association.

"I've had an introduction and it's gone pretty well. A few conversations were had at the end of the year and here I am," he told BBC London 94.9.

"It's something that I didn't get to play during my time and it's a pretty sensational form of the game."

Lewis added: "You get to do everything in a short space of time, it's very exciting stuff."

He started his career with Leicestershire, before spells with Nottinghamshire and Surrey, while he played in 32 Tests and 53 one-day internationals for England.

The all-rounder put in an impressive display at the 1992 World Cup and won two domestic titles with the Brown caps lifting the Sunday League in 1996 and the Benson and Hedges in 1997.

Lewis continued: "I spent a couple of fantastic years here and we played some pretty great cricket, so it's great to be back at Surrey.

"I had some wonderful times here, we won a couple of one-day competitions. When the ground is full it's absolutely fantastic and now the new stand makes it looks more like a stadium.

"Since retiring I've kept on playing, I've played club cricket up and down the country. "Over the last few years I've been playing a few games for the PCA and they've got the masters series which is pretty good.

"It's 20-over cricket, some of it against counties, and each year they play the tourists."

Lewis, who joined in pre-season training at the Oval, has been brought in for his experience as a bowler in the limited over game and he says he is ready for the challenge of facing the explosive batting approach of the Twenty 20 game.

"I suppose it's always been my bag, being the opening bowler you come on when the slog is on - then you have a bit of a rest and come back on when another slog is on," explained Lewis.

"I'm used to that, I'm going to be prepared for that, obviously I hope to use some of the stuff that I've picked up over the years and try to get one or two wickets.

"I said to Al (Butcher) at the beginning that if I was going to come back and give it a go then I wanted to do it properly not just turn up and play, I wanted to go into the gym and do the work and see if the body was up to it and it's so far so good.

"Going to the gym and staying in shape helps your overall standard of life, you feel healthier and more confident so it's something that has held me in good stead and enabled me to come back.

"I thought that perhaps there could be a comeback, however I didn't expect it to be at 40. It's a bit late in the day but all is well with the body and I'm really looking forward to it."