Overview
Cricket needs a mix of equipment so one can play. There are bats, balls, pads, helmets and the kit. The most basic question is if you are going to be playing hard-ball or tape-ball. Hard-ball cricket needs the pads and helmet, tape-ball cricket can be played with just the ball and a tape-ball bat. The price of these individual items varies, some are available for lower-end prices while others are expensive. There are affordable variants for the same piece of equipment and expensive ones as well.
Description
Cricket equipment
Every sport has its own set of equipment that is either needed to play the sport, for protection or for enhancing performance. For cricket, the most basic equipment is the bat, ball and wickets. A good cricket bat is made from willow and needs knocking to compress the wood a bit before actual play. This is the bat for a cork ball, for tape ball the bat is made from lighter wood and is generally thinner as well. The cork ball is red but one can also find them in white, the difference in colour signifies the kind of match being played.
The wickets, or stumps, are set behind the batsman and if they are hit by the bowler the batsman is declared out. Wickets also have bails set on top of them, and if a ball hits them the bails tend to fall making it easy to know they have been hit.
Aside from these three basic things, players also need a cricket kit, cricket shoes, wicket keeping gloves, cricket pads, helmets and a cap for the sun. The cricket kit for most levels of cricket is white, some team leagues or international teams make use of specific colours for each team. Cricket shoes are designed for grass and have studs or spikes for better grip. The spiked ones are generally worn by all-rounders and studded shoes are preferred by fast bowlers.
Wicket keepers wear gloves so they are able to catch balls coming toward them at a fast pace without damaging their hands. Protection is crucial for some players, especially for the batsman. This is why batsmen wear cricket pads to cover their legs, a pad for their forearm, ribs and one for their thigh; on the side that is facing the bowler. They also wear a helmet for their head and gloves for their hands. Some batsmen do not wear a helmet as it can be a bit tough to see with, this is a risky decision. Another piece of protection is the groin guard.
Some of the best bats are made by Gray-Nicolls, Kookaburra, Gunn & Moore, MB Malik, Ihsan and AS Sports. A lot of these same brands produce the rest of the cricket equipment mentioned above.
Comments
What cricket equipment you need is a matter of what kind of cricket game you are going to play, is it a tape-ball or will it be with a hard-ball. What surface are you going to be playing on and is it a match for a specific league or just friends. Based on all these variables one can decide what all they need to purchase.
The price of cricket equipment varies a lot. Some items can be bought for lower-end prices but also have expensive high-quality variants. So what your budget is important as it will be a deciding factor in what you choose.
