Although an international game, cricket is one of the most popular sports in Australia. It’s beautiful and exciting to watch and play, especially with all of its rules. Cricketers are well-known for their notable cricket clothing, but it’s the gear that makes them complete. Speaking of gear, it’s the essentials that can make or break a cricketer’s success during a game.
Cricket Gloves
When it comes to the player’s hand protection, one of the most crucial types of cricket gear are the gloves. Both cricket players – batsmen and wicket keepers are supposed to wear gloves in order to protect themselves and have a better grip. However, both of these gloves types differ between themselves.
Keepers Gloves
Indoor cricket wicket keeping gloves are designed to be worn by the wicket-keeper during the game. The main purpose of the protective indoor wicket keeping gloves is to help the player catch and field the balls thrown by a teammate or when hit by a batsman. Considering the fact that we are talking about gloves, it’s understandable that indoor wicket keeping gloves can come in different sizes while also featuring different palm lining, palm padding, webbing and finger end caps.
The palm lining of these gloves is the part of the glove that directly touches the player’s hand, so it’s understandable that it needs to be soft and comfortable. By choosing indoor cricket gloves with such palm lining, it means that the skin irritations will be reduced which is the goal. Considering this, one of the most commonly used materials for this part of the gloves are cotton and leather.
The palm padding, on the other hand, is designed to protect the hands and minimise the impact. In other words, this part of the gloves is meant to protect your hand from possible injuries by absorbing the shock. Besides this, it’s said that the padding of these gloves improves the player’s grip by helping the ball balance and stop it from bouncing out of the hands once the player has it.
Finger end caps are also essential for this game since the player’s fingers are constantly at risk of injury when playing. That is why they are usually made of sturdy materials like rubber and PVC. The thumb and the index finger on a keeping’s glove are called webbing and this area is closely related to the player’s grip. In other words, without it, the player might not be able to catch the ball properly and stop it from bouncing out of the hands.
Batting Gloves
As the name implies, these gloves are designed to be used by batsmen players and aside from providing them with a better grip, they are also designed to protect their hands from injuries. Nowadays, you have the chance to choose between modern and traditional types of batting gloves where the modern have finger cuts while the traditional don’t. When comparing both of these types of gloves, it’s said that the modern types offer greater protection, comfort and flexibility. All in all, both types of these gloves are made with one thought in mind, to provide warmth and comfort.
Cricket Bat
The one thing we know about indoor cricket ball is that it’s lighter and softer which means that players are not in need of any fancy, extremely sturdy and expensive cricket bat. Instead, these players can use a more affordable bat that will do the job nicely. The most important thing to know about cricket bats is that they shouldn’t be longer than 96.5cm and wider than 10.8cm. The weight of cricket bats usually ranges between 1.2 and 1.4kg, however, players usually prefer lighter bats for indoor cricket.
Chest Protector
Mainly used by female players, chest protectors are designed to protect the chest from an injury. Today’s chest protectors or guards are ergonomically designed in order to give the player a more secure and comfortable fit. They are lighter in weight and don’t restrict movement during the game which is fundamental for the player.
Knee Pads
Knee pads are essential during the game since they not only protect the clothes from ripping and tearing but are also designed to protect the player’s knees from injuries and cuts. Just like everything else, they are available in different sizes, types and padding, allowing the player to choose the right model. Besides knee pads, it’s not strange seeing a player wearing elbow and shin pads in order to be fully protected from injuries.
Mouthguards
Wearing a mouthguard will protect the player from any kind of dental damage. This will not only protect their beautiful smile but it’ll also save him/her lots of dollars trying to repair the smile. It’s also not strange seeing cricket players wearing eye guards and helmets in order to be completely protected from any kinds of injuries that could happen on the field.