Sports Photography - Cricket in particular

[stevosoft]

Gday All,
My wife gave me a Canon EOS450D DSLR for xmas which I have been happily learning how to use. So far I'm very happy with the results. It came with 2 lenses, one of which is a 55-250mm which I have been using to take pictures of my son playing cricket. I've been using the camera's sports mode on full zoom to try and get as close as I can to him batting - usually this is between 50 and 80 metres from where I am on the boundary. I'm getting some really good shots and can see this lens also being good when I next go bushwalking or even skiing. My question is, I'd like to get a bit closer and am hesitant about buying a bigger telephoto lens at this stage so I was wondering if it's worth looking at the Canon lens 2x extenders? What are these like and would they help me in my quest for better sporting pictures.

Thanks
Steve

[jdepould]

That particular lens doesn't really lend itself to teleconverters, especially doublers. They reduce the effective aperture (drastically), and you'll end up losing autofocus, and needing long shutter speeds.

[stevosoft]

Thanks Jamie - useful info. Given I'm trying to take 'action' shots this is not what I need. I think I'll start investigating lenses and work on my technique some more.