Colour Change

"The grabbing hands, grab all they can, everything counts in large amounts" sang Depeche Mode back in the 1980's and it was the first thing that went through my head when I saw the news that England will yet again be changing their One Day kit this summer.

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The news tweeted out by John Etheridge of the Sun, is apparently something that has come from shirt makers Adidas, you know that German company at the forefront of cricket! The switch will involve England switching from the current blue into a red colour for the One Day series against New Zealand, followed by the Champions Trophy tournament to be held in England shortly afterwards. One wag on Twitter even likened England to Cardiff City, a club who have also switched from blue to red recently.

Now being a parent myself, although not one who has bought my son the blue kit, I would be seriously pissed off should I have bought my lad a replica of the old kit recently, such as Christmas. We have seen this numerous times over the years, especially with the national football kit...change the blue, change the red, change the white, change the colour, different collars, different socks, new shorts, different design on the sleeve, add a bit here or there, change the away kit, introduce the third kit when there is no need...when will it stop? Re-package, Re-issue, Re-evaluate.

England rugby is just as bad with the horrendous purple, grey or black and now our cricket team are following suit.

Other sports are just as bad

There must be some sort of Service Level Agreement with Joe Public from the manufacturers saying something along the lines of "We will not change this for two years. If you buy your kid one of these, it will be the same one KP or Swanny wears for the next couple of years".

Even the players are saying they don't want to wear the red kit, they prefer the blue. Having had numerous awful kits over the years, and I'm talking of the pale blue apparel that accompanied our lads to the 92 World Cup, we had finally got ourselves quite a decent little number I thought. Not pulling gear on a Friday night granted, but a decent enough kit. Money talks though I suppose, and everyone and anyone is trying to cash in on the success of England as a team.

The 1992 World Cup shirt

This drastic change will be sold to us on the premise that it will filter down to grass roots cricket and the like no doubt, and maybe it will, but will also enhance the bulging wallets of Adidas shareholders. No doubt, costing next to nothing to make whilst being mass produced in the Far East, it will be on sale for close to fifty notes by the time it hits the UK.

Whilst listening to Depeche Mode, have a listen to Paint a Vulgar Picture by The Smiths too. Although written about the record industry, the replica shirt industry is not too far behind.

Joe Public deserves better.