Thank you all for your kind words - I will make sure they are passed onto Paul, should make him feel a little bit brighter about CBF (so too would you all getting in your Kookaburra pre-orders, or your ideas for the Christmas event
).
To those who have posted negative comments at this time - I think most will agree that is pure childishness and is completely unnecessary. The facts are these - Paul has been playing cricket all of his life, and left a high paying job, with guaranteed holidays and a steady (and generous) income, for the tumultuous life of owning a cricket shop. Seasonally the income is very uncertain, you cannot plan for the money coming in, you can very rarely take holidays, the work is often over 100 hours a week, and can have very real impacts on personal relationships. Add to this, the stress that this forum creates, with us feeling like IJC is often the only retailer who actually joins in and provokes discussion, as opposed to some who merely post about their own brand and products, and you can see why things get a little bit much. The forum takes up a hell of a lot of time for sometimes very little, or even no returns, and as a sponsor we have to assess whether our time can be spent more constructively.
We enjoy the forum when it is a positive force, but as on some recent threads, it can become like a witch hunt by certain people with certain agendas, and we don't want that - we want the same things as others. I'm surprised IJC comes under the stick for hand picking, for investigating the M&H thing, etc etc. It is surely what you want from a retailer who you spend your hard earned on? We have a passion for cricket, and will focus on that, not the pointless minutiae and bitching which the forum can turn into sometimes sadly.
Once again, thank you for the support, I'll make sure Paul receives the messages.
Chris