Counties catch selling bug

Football merchandising is big business, but how does cricket compare? Chris Green goes shopping for BBC Sport Online.

A few years ago counties, clothes-wise, sold little more than ties and t-shirts - but not anymore.

Today's club shops resemble scaled down soccer superstores, selling the same sort of replica gear plus 'Barmy Army' accessories.

The shop at Edgbaston claims to be the biggest specialist cricket bookshop in the country and also stocks a wide range of cricket equipment.

But you buy union jack wigs, 'Come On You Bears' foam fingers, in fact just about anything you might want in Warwickshire or England colours.

"People don't necessarily come to cricket to buy something but we persuade them otherwise," says manager Keith Butler, a former commercial manager at several football clubs before accepting the challenge to redefine Warwickshire's merchandising.

In terms of volume, we're akin to a First or Second Division football club

Keith Butler

It is big business - the shop turns in a handsome £500,000 annual profit.

"The bigger range of items we stock, the more people will visit," insists Butler, who has launched Warwickshire's own Bear Wear range - anything from skimpy ladies tops to men's socks.

The catalyst for the clubwear revolution was the introduction of coloured clothing for one-day cricket in the early 1990s.

Butler sold 3,000 England or Warwickshire replica shirts during the Edgbaston Test this summer.

Ill-prepared supporters can even buy rain ponchos (the modern day equivalent of a pacamac), and there are 30 different baseball caps to choose from.

But tradition still counts, the club tie is still the biggest selling single item.

Look stylish in bed in MCC pyjamas

Cricketwear is an all year business round thing - December is Warwickshire's third busiest month.

You might expect the home of cricket - Lord's - to be a bit more upmarket, but not so.

Although many of the items on sale should only be worn by MCC members (in their familiar 'egg and bacon' colours), it is doubtful whether anyone bar the fashion police will be raiding anyone's home to check if they are wearing an illegal pair of MCC pyjamas.

Yes, Lord's sell them.

Even traditional country grounds have got in on the merchandising act.

"Cricket has woken up to the commercial realities of sport," says Tom Sears, Commercial Manager at Worcestershire.

"Every revenue stream has to be looked at."

Keep the score with a county calculator

Five years ago Worcestershire replaced the erstwhile Severn Bar with New Road One - a pub for a shop.

They sell their own branded leisure on the 'New Road' label - the logo is a pear.

Last year, this was accompanied by a range of Ooh, Aah Glenn McGrath (pronounced McGraah) gear - and it still selling well this season despite England's Ashes demolition.

"The younger supporters like the sort of replica gear we sell. An evening short form of cricket could help improve things dramatically," says Sears.

Being close to the city centre New Road, a ground renowned for its scenic beauty, is on a handy tourist trail and the occasional coachload in winter makes it worth keeping the shop open all year.

But Tom Sears has rejected the idea of selling some tackier items.

"We won't be selling New Road knickers and recently we turned down an offer to sell duck bill whistles to blow at batsmen out for nought. That wouldn't be in the best spirit of cricket."