Buyer’s Guide to Choose Perfect Cricket Shoes

Every second person is passionate about cricket. We need a professional kit to play cricket in the safest way. One of the vital parts of playing cricket is Cricket Shoes. Many players don’t focus on considering the right cricket shoe and don’t know how much foot has to suffer if choose gone wrong and ultimately they lack in giving their best on the playing ground.

When one has to make the decision for taking good cricket shoes. He has to see a lot of things. If you see in detail every cricket shoe provide different specification, some are made for fast bowlers, some for a wicketkeeper, etc. In older times, there was only one cricket shoe that was known as Test Cricket shoes. These shoes were very simple and worn-in white color only but now the time has totally changed. We have a different type of cricket game such as ODI, T-20s, Test matches, and some play League Cricket.

Nowadays cricket shoes are coming in different colors and are worn by players according to the format of cricket. Only test matches use white shoes now. So, let’s explore which cricket shoes can fit you better.

Parts of Cricket Shoes

Cricket Shoe have the following parts

• Out-sole

• Upper sole

• Sock Liner

• Midsole

• Heel

• Torsion Bar

• Lasting

Cricket Shoes can be categorized according to their out-sole.

Batting Shoes: These are also known as spikes shoes and generally carry the front portion with spikes. Due to spikes present on the front players can move freely and run better on the grassy pitches too.

Bowling Shoes: These are basically meant for bowlers and carry spikes on the entire shoe thus offers a better grip on the ground. Which is very helpful for fast bowlers when it comes to bowl on grassy ground. Recently companies have introduced new cricket shoes for bowlers which contain a hole in the front and player’s toe comes out when his foot lands on the ground. This avoids stress on the foot and helps in preventing foot injuries.

Going further cricket shoes can be divided into two categories depending upon the surface.

Rubber Studded Shoes: These are worn on hard surfaces and the sole contains rubber on them. Due to this, these provide a firm grip to the shoes on the hard ground.

Must Read - How to Maintain Your Favourite Cricket Shoes

Spiked Shoes: These shoes have spikes on its sole to provide grip to players who play on the grassy or softer surface.

So before buying shoes, one should consider which type of player he is and surface on which he has to play.

Other parts should be considered too before making the decision on buying cricket shoes. Let’s study it in detail.

Upper: The part of the shoe that covers the entire outsole and midsole is known as the Upper. So this part should be soft, made from a flexible material, and comfortable when worn. It should provide ventilation, very necessary for cricket shoes. Most upper comes with a higher or mid-cut for bowlers and batsmen, these cuts will provide better support to the ankle of the players.

Sock Liner: This part has direct contact with your foot when it is on rest. So, it has to be comfortable and have sufficient cushioning. Some companies give the option of replacement which can be done by users whenever needed.

Midsole: It is situated between out and insole to offer better absorption of shock. The midsole is made from hard material to provide extra support to the feet.

Heel: It is a very important part of the shoe. As it is meant for providing extra security to the foot. Comfort heel is meant for the batsman whereas secured type is for the bowlers.

Torsion Bar: It is also called a Trusstic system. This is partially responsible for stability by doing a reduction in torsion and helps in preventing any injury while running.

Lasting: Cricket shoes come up with different types of lasting and depend upon the pronation types one chooses.

Size of Cricket shoes

Last but very important before jumping to get a new brand of shoe, is the correct size.  You need to take comfortable shoes for your feet. Never chose loose or tight shoes. Try to make a short walk and run while choosing them, this will aid you to get perfect size shoes.

Wrap Up

Apart from my above recommendation, always try to get brand shoes such as Adidas, Gunn and Moore, and DSC Shoes. Inferior quality will lead to the suffering of feet.

Cricket Helmet: Its Top Features and Material Used

Cricket Helmets were used first in 1930 but could not get their place until 1970 (as per Wikipedia). As cricket balls travel up to a speed of 100 miles per hour, the risk of head and other injuries are too high, especially when the ball is thrown by a fast bowler. So the helmet is the most important gear of cricket equipment.

Cricket Helmets are generally made to provide a different levels of comfort, safety and resilience. Like other gears in cricket, the key feature of cricket helmet is to provide maximum protection without interfering in player’s natural techniques.

Cricket Helmet Features

Covering

The shell of cricket Helmet is a vital component; it acts as an original shield providing maximum protection and helps in absorption when greater force is exerted from the outside. Inner materials are fitted to provide extra layer of safety by the outer shell.

Grill

Grill is front of the helmet which acts as second protection layer to the face and reduces the visibility at the same time; considered to be major drawback. These are generally made from poly-carbonate and other materials, providing advance level of stiffness and strength.

Also read: Most Important Protective Gears in Cricket

Padding

Padding that is fitted inside the cricket helmets basically acts as third layer for absorption and helps in minimizing the impact of fast balls. Furthermost it ensures to put the helmet on player’s head even after a fast ball hit. So it provides good fit and comfort zone to players on the ground.

Chin Strap

Chin strap is considered to be second half of padding as it works in conjunction with padding to ensure an ideal fitting with greater comfort zone.

Chin guard further allows the chin strap to wrap around the chin and it acts as shock absorber in the case of greater impact from fast balls.

Different Materials used in Cricket Helmets

ABS Plastic

It is also known as Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene. It can easily mould into various shapes and good at absorption at the same time. Being lightest in weight, its ideal material for cricket helmets. However its major drawback is that it’s not as strong as carbon fibre or fiberglass therefore might not be durable as compare to other materials.

Fibreglass

Cricket helmets are widely made from fibreglass. As discussed above these are stronger as compare to ABS and provides better durability with strong strength. However, these are heavier and one needs to compromise so as to get better protection.

Carbon Fibre

These are mixed with Kevlar (heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibre) to provide features of fibreglass along with lighter in the weight. So it is considered to be the best option for making helmet shells but one may have to compromise with the pricing as these are expensive in market.

Steel

Steel is also known as carbon steel. It is first choice of people when one need to make cricket helmet protective grills. It is cost effective, stronger and very easy to work.

Titanium

Titanium grill cricket helmet offers highest tensile-strength to the weight ratio when compared to any metal. It can provide the same strength of steel whilst lighter in weight as compare to steel and from these characteristic it has become ideal replacement for steel and got in use by major companies.

High density Foam

It covers large variety of major material with top features. Many HD foams are derived from PU and EPS based plastics mixed with various metals which are responsible for creating bubbles. It is the density and size of these bubbles that makes a unique property of HD foams.

Foams that contain small bubbles will offer great shock absorption from fast balls but can restricted with flexibility whereas big bubbles offer larger flexibility but can be restrict to its shock absorption.

The biggest advantage of HD foams, they are very light weight as they are made of air. These entire advance features makes HD foams first choice for making padding.

Wrap Up

I hope after reading this article you are now very well aware that what type of cricket helmet can offer you best protection. Cheers! 

How to Choose Right Cricket Shoes – A Short Guide!

Comfortable Cricket Shoes are always needed by players the moment they step into the playground. This will not only help them to get a better grip on the ground while playing but also gives them a dose of confidence at the same time. Good Cricket Shoes always protect your feet from any type of injury.

 If you are a batsman having a good pair of shoes, this will surely help you to attain proper posture indeed, you will perform better. A bowler should look for shoes that contain stud as they are more capable of providing the correct landing posture. 

The right shoes not only provide better balance for fielders but helps to propel better for faster running thus, saving the team from getting defeated. Below we have written a few key points which you must consider before buying a cricket shoe.

Key Points to Consider While Buying a Cricket Shoes

Material

While purchasing cricket shoes, one should also check the quality of the material. A cricket shoe is basically made up of PU and PVC. Which is commonly known as artificial leather. This material is extremely flexible and soft so that one can move his/her feet freely. In addition to this material promote breathability, coziness, and all above it gives sufficient legroom.

Level of Game

Also, while buying the cricket shoes, evaluate one's game level whether you stand in beginning or at a professional level. One should go for extra durable shoes if they are engaged in a long and very exhaustive practice session.

Size Fit

One should always look for the perfect size of shoes as an ill-fitting can hamper your game. Tighter in shape will restrict the movement of toes and thus it will hurt your heels and toes. On the contrary, larger in size will prevent the player from making a definite and perfect stride.

Type of Sole

Secondly, check for the outer sole of the shoe, Cricket footwear are meant for extreme temperature. Ideal shoes will have metal or rubber spikes that can be helpful even in the slippery grounds Rubber Spikes Cricket Shoes, also known as stud shoes should be taken both by fielders and bowlers so that they can play on any type of ground.

Surface of the Playground

Another factor that should be considered while buying cricket shoes is the surface of the playground. Is it a synthetic or turf pitch? For turf grounds, metal spike cricket shoes are preferred whereas rubber spike cricket shoes are made for synthetic pitches.

Weight

Weight is also considered to be a vital factor while going for cricket spikes. As we know cricket is a physically intensive game and it depends upon running and stamina. Everyone has to run continuously on the ground whether its bowler or batsman. So, they should prefer lightweight shoes.

Budget

Wrapping up everything, even the budget is also an essential factor for having new cricket shoes. If you have just started learning cricket then standard Cricket Shoes will surely fit into this. Whereas intermediate players, you can invest in high-quality cricket shoes and aim for a high result.