Win a pair of Affinity Cricket Batting Gloves

Cricket has had a lot of dodgy press recently. Whether it is sledging in the Ashes, match fixing in New Zealand or the ire of the UK's journalists versus our national teams performance, it has had a bit of a kicking. So it is pleasing to hear of some great guys who are mates of ours on Twitter who have put something back into the game. Read on and discover how you could win a pair of Affinity Cricket gloves which are retailing at £70 at present.

Win a pair of these!

The #cricketfamily are a collective of cricket people, clubs and tweeps who have an interest in cricket on Twitter. Numbering over four thousand followers, they are designed to put something back into the game, and generally helping each other out. The boys at The Middle Stump got talked into their Movember challenge last year, along with Ryan Sidebottom of Yorkshire, Tom Milsom of Ayrtek cricket helmets (behind the wonderful new lid modelled by Michael Carberry) and the Managing Director of Affinity Cricket, Marcus Charman. We raised £500 or so.

Marcus was brave enough to give it a go again this year, although without the help of us chaps here at The Middle Stump. Six of them, under the banner of #teamaffinity this year have raised just shy of £3,000 and getting them into the top 100 in the UK at one point beating huge corporate companies! Having been supported either financially or via re tweets by the likes of England women players, Heather Knight and Ebony Rainford-Brent the campaign this year has raised not only awareness but a significant amount of dough, all for a good cause.

Heather Knight...support

Marcus explained, " I didn't really want to get involved this year, my wife even less so! That soon changed when I got put in touch with a guy called Neil Ramdass over in Trinidad, who has recently suffered with testicular cancer. There wasn't too much publicity on the island, and we thought we might make a difference. I'm sure anyone who is in their thirties knows someone somewhere, who has been affected."

"We, at Affinity Cricket, changed our logos for a month to try and raise awareness, and the response that we had back from everyone involved in the game on Twitter, brought a tear to the eye. It is what being in a team is all about, and goes to show the cricket family is all in this together. Cricket cares and I would like to thank everyone who has got involved.Everyone concerned whether they have taken part, donated, supported us or helped to drive the publicity has been all part of #teamaffinity."

Affinity Cricket's logo change for the month

With Jonathan Trott being flown home from the current Ashes series with a stress related illness, depression has been in the cricketing news recently. This year Movember wasn't just about testicular cancer or men's health but also incorporated work for MIND, the mental health charity.

Team Affinity have done a fantastic job, and have recently brought out a range of cricket gloves to go with their outstandingly good, hand made bats. Charman continued, "If we get over the three grand mark by the 9th December, we will run a competition for everyone who has pledged £10 or more to #teamaffinity. Someone will win a pair of Affinity Cricket 2014 range of batting gloves by sponsoring us here. http://moteam.co/teamaffinity . You need to leave your Twitter ID in the comments box when you donate and the winner will be notified on Twitter."

Having checked out the Affinity Cricket bats range we know these gloves will be top quality, and recommend that you get on the case. Not only that as well as supporting a great cause, you can be part of the many cricketers who have put something back into the game.