Am I being precious over DS’ cricket kit?

[Justnocricket]

DS (10) plays cricket at school and is crazy about it. For his birthday and Christmas, we and his extended family all contributed money and together we bought him bat, helmet, pads, gloves and whites. It came to approx £400. He was thrilled, all good.

But now he is playing in school matches. Everyone has the whites but only 70% have their own bat, helmet, gloves etc, so he is just expected to share his.

At a match today I watched as his helmet was taken off and tossed down into the mud by a classmate. His gloves taken off and left on the grass and someone promptly stood on them with spikes on. Another was throwing his bat in the air and trying (unsuccessfully) to catch it. DS was running round at the end trying to gather his kit back up.

Is this normal to share in cricket, or do schools normally supply their own kit for those who don’t have their own? Private school BTW.

The way the others are treating your DS' kit is fucking disrespectful.
His expensive birthday present chucked into the mud and stomped on with spiked shoes? Not ok.
Not my business, but I think £400 for a collective present is not unreasonable at all.
I would be stopping the kit being shared if I could. Disgusting behaviour. I wonder how the other kids would feel if it belonged to them.

DS has played cricket at school (private ) since he was 7/8 and at club level too.
Boys share everything however as they get older they do start to value their bats. DS has an expensive high quality bat which he chose himself ( it has to feel right apparently weight and distribution of weight is important).
At 10 there is no such thing as a bespoke bat and you would be daft to pay more than £30-40 for one. Once they need a full sized bat at around 15/16 then you can pay a little more.
The most important piece of kit is a helmet. In the same way as cycling you need a good quality one.
Everything else, buy in Sports direct as cheap as you can. They generally only last a season due to wear and tear and rapid growth spurts.
Spending £400 on a full set of kit at 10 is excessive.
DS came home after nets the other day waxing lyrical about his mates new bat. They went on tour with school in Feb to India and he picked up an Indian branded bat for £85. DS is now regretting not doing the same.
Many of the professional cricketers have sponsorship deals with bat manufacturers. Unfortunately what they do is buy bats made for them by specialist bat makers then put the sponsorship stickers on them. It results in lots of sales of the big name brands but often the bats are nothing like those used by the professionals. We have two local bat makers who supply unmarked bats for this purpose.
DS’s bat frequently receives compliments, when he middles a shot ( hits in in just the right spot) it doesn’t make a sound but travels miles. Cricketers can be quite a nerdy bunch at times.
I used to think cricket was boring, having learnt the rules and spent many weekends watching live cricket you do learn to love it.
Enjoy the game and don’t stress about the kit. Next year you’ll probably have to replace it all again.

Cricket at my schools was played, on the handful of times we played it, on the grass with a tennis ball. Definitely no whites, own bats, spikes, pads, gloves, or any other kit. I’m guessing you aren’t talking about state school here.

I am a musician however, so carry about some pretty pricey gear, and DS is following in my footsteps. I’ve drummed it into him, first rule, never ever lend out your shit. Never even lend out a pick unless you’re happy not to get it back. Definitely never let anybody else play your instrument.

You are not being precious. Just a thought but I wonder if the other kids are borrowing his kit because it is nicer than the shared kit?

Slightly different, we gave DS a really good torch before he went on an Army cadet expedition. I knew there was a risk of it being loaned out and never seen again. So we got him a cheap (but still decent) torch as his loaner torch. Any time someone said 'lend me your torch' that was the one they got not the really good one. Of course the loaner one disappeared by the end of the trip but the good one made it home.

How much would it cost to get him a 'spare' (ie cheaper) pair of gloves and bat so that anyone wants a loan they get those?

I know you shouldnt have to but kids can be light magpies and want the shiny thing.

If Private I thought they’d have to supply their own?
I would advise the school as the children cannot look after his property or staff unable to monitor his property (which I part understand at a match), your son’s will no longer be shared.

I would be very interested to know how many of the boys have their own kit for home / club but don’t bring it into school because they’ll be expected to share and they know it’ll get trashed.

Your ds should not be sharing his personal kit with other pupils, especially a bat. My dh played and captained cricket teams. There were club spares but most people had their own equipment. Bad supervision on the part of the teachers though if they allow pupils to treat equipment like that.