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CA Sports guide to packing your perfect cricket kit:

cricket kit

I think I’d be taking a safe wager in saying that the vast majority of you reading this are guilty of just throwing you cricket gear into your kit after a long sweaty training or game... but to be quite frank, with the amount of protective gear the average modern-day cricket player has, I honestly can’t even blame you!

 

It’s easy to miss something off of the checklist when you’re buying your cricket kit and its necessary contents at the shop, whether its your first time, or even if you’ve been playing for a while! Well, by the end of this, hopefully you can walk into cricket stores with full confidence and 100% conviction on the gear you require!

Now let’s start with the basics. The cricket bat, and the cricket ball. No need for any explanation on this one! However, when it comes down to actually picking the right cricket bat, or even ball for you to use, there is much more attention to be given to that. Do read our “Choose the Perfect Size for Cricket Bats” blog in the “Blogs” section of our website to educate yourself more on this topic! Even when it comes to stocking up on cricket balls, the size and material of the ball you choose is very important too and depends on your size and intentions.

 

For example, for a person with a smaller build, (generally aimed at children/young teenagers) you’d definitely want to be buying only Junior Cricket balls. Trying to fit a regular sized Senior cricket ball in a child’s hand would definitely affect their grip and ability to bowl accurately and according to their plan. Furthermore, junior cricketers tend to use “Wind balls” or “Premier balls” in training and games due to their softer nature, making it more apt for the hands of younger, sensitive players to handle.

Now, for the basic protective gear. Even for the numbers 8-11 batsmen or the “Specialist Bowlers” if that’s what you like to call yourselves (just kidding ;)!), you do still need to pack a full cricket bag with all the necessary batting gear you require! The last thing you’d want as a cricketer is an injury in a place that you’d rather keep intact! So, what have we got! Let’s start from top to bottom.

 

1) The Helmet: The most brutal injuries in the history of cricket have, unsurprisingly, been to some region on the head. Broken and bloody noses, slashed eyelids, cut cheeks, and badly bruised temples have been all too common in the hall of fame of cricket injuries, which is why the helmet is an absolute necessity in modern day cricket.

cricket helmet
plus 15000 thigh
2) The Chest Guard: This particular piece of kit is rather rare in amateur cricket, and perhaps even professional cricket in certain formats. Personally, I’m not quite sure why as I’d much rather have a full and healthy set of ribs than not have to carry a relatively chunky piece of protective gear. Perhaps it slows down batsmen and restricts movement in playing shots and running between the wickets. This is a personal preference, but definitely a useful item to have!

 

3) The Cricket GlovesYou can tell quite intuitively why the cricket gloves are a must-have item for your cricket kit – they’re usually the closest part of your body to the cricket ball when a delivery is headed your way so if you miss your shot, it’s likely you could get hit there!

In similar fashion to the thigh pads, make no mistake in purchasing the correct orientation of gloves that you need, as this differs from left to right handed batsmen too! Check out our CA Sports Cricket Gloves here.

batting gloves
growing guard
4) The Box: On the unfortunate occasion that the cricket ball manages to evade your bat, is too low to strike you on the gloves/chest pad, and is too high to strike you on your pads or thigh pad, you’re REALLY going to want to have a box to protect your especially sensitive region right on the middle there!

 


5) The Thigh Pads: These usually come in a set of two pads; one for the thigh of your front foot and one for that of the back leg. As a result, it matters greatly as to if you’re a left or right-handed batsman so that you get the right fitting for you. You should aim to cover the whole region of your thigh between the top of your main pads and your box.! Check out our CA Sports Thigh Pads here.

plus 15000 thigh guard
plus series leg pad

6) The (Leg) Pads: Again, quite an obviously necessary piece of kit to have; the pads cover your entire shin from ankle to mid-thigh, keeping you safe from even the hardest and fastest of deliveries. Check out our CA Sports Leg Pads / batting pads here.

7) Cricket Shoes: All cricketers who have been playing matches regularly will have invested in specialist cricket shoes or “Spikes” as they are colloquially referred to as. They have much harder tops and sides than regular trainers, and as inferred in the common name, have spikes/studs at the bottom of the shoe. These provide increased grip to the wearer which come in very handy when playing in slippery conditions and running fast. Check out our CA Sports Cricket Shoes here.

CA spikes

There are a number of other training accessories club coaches use too, such as a tape-ball cricket bat, cones, catching mitts, Flexi-based self-righting stumps, sidearms, etc. but none of those are necessities to keep in your kit as a player.


Having said that, we at CA Sports stock almost all of the items we’ve mentioned above, so if you’re looking to tick off some of the remaining items on your cricket kit checklist, we have the highest quality gear just for you! These are also available for pickup from our warehouse in Bedford.