CRICKET PAD GUIDE
Welcome to the guides page of Cricket pads. We have consolidated the different terms used to define a cricket pad with the help of which you will be able to select the right pad based on your needs. The guide has been prepared based on our experience in our store “The Pavilion” sports. On this page you will find the detailed explanation of cricket pads, their types and materials used in the pads.
There are lot of brands providing cricket pads. We have some of the top cricket brands such as GM cricket pads, GN Cricket pads, Legend cricket pads, Kookaburra cricket pads, Morrant cricket pads, RNS cricket pads, SG cricket pads, SS cricket pads all under the roof of Sportskhel.
Cricket pads can be divided into two types based on the cricket players’ usage.
Based on the users’ preferred hand the cricket pads varies.
- Left hand cricket batsman
- Right hand cricket batsman
- Ambidextrous
Battings pads also popularly known as batting legguard. Batting legguards are used by cricket batsman during the period of batting. Cricket batting leg guards are an essential component of any cricket player's protective equipment.
Batting pads comes in various sizes range such as
- Men size batting pads
- Youth size batting pads
- Small boys size batting pads
- Boys size batting pads
- Small men size batting pads
- Mini size batting pads.
Wicket keeping legguards are used by wicketkeeper during the period of fielding. Cricket wicket keeping pads are an essential component of any wicket keeper's protective equipment.
Like batting pads even Wicket keeping leg guards comes in various sizes range such as
- Men size batting pads
- Youth size batting pads
- Small boys size batting pads
- Boys size batting pads.
Both batting legguards and wicket keeping legguards have common features in the cricket pad with light distinguishes. Batting legguard / Wicket keeping legguard has common terminologies which one needs to know such as face of legguard, knee roll of legguard, top hat of legguard, wing of legguard and straps of legguard.
Face of cricket wicket keeping pads/batting pads generally takes up the largest surface area of the cricket pads and is usually made up of a number of vertically separated sections. These vertical sections allow the pad to wrap round the shin, making cricket players easier to run and move around in. Each vertical section would comprise a cane shaft for stiffness with any number of padding materials to act as shock absorbers. Generally batting pads contain 7 vertical section. Wicket keeping pads has comparatively less vertical sections.
Knee roll of cricket wicket keeping legguards/batting legguards has two main purposes which includes offering improved protection around the vulnerable knee joint and secondly allow the pad to flex and bend in conjunction with the rest of leg. The knee roll is divided up into a number of horizontal sections, which include a padding material. Unlike cricket batting legguards, wicket keeping legguards are designed without the knee roll all together.
Top hat is the area on the cricket wicket keeping legguards/batting legguards above the knee roll, which serves to protect the lower thigh from cricket ball impacts. The top is often inseparable from the face of the cricket pads. In some cricket wicket keeping legguards designs where the knee roll has been deem superfluous.
Wings are placed on the outside of each cricket pads to offer additional wrap-around for protection. Cricket wicket keeping legguards generally do not have wings because the wicket keeper stands face on to the stumps. Batting legguard ensures the wing design offers protection to the most at risk areas, whilst not adding weight by adding protection where it's not needed. In the case of cheaper cricket legguard, they will tend to be ambidextrous, capable of protecting batsmen of either dexterity, but may prove heavier for cricketers.
Straps of cricket batting leg guards/wicket keeping leg guards are used to tightly hold the cricket pad with the cricket players’ leg. Traditionally Batting legguards/wicket keeping legguards were secured to the leg using leather straps and metal buckles, which proved heavy and uncomfortable. Modern batting pads/ wicket keeping pads straps are cushioned, much wider, secured with Velcro and has a comfortable fit. Batting legguards either have two straps or three straps depending on the weight of the cricket leg guard. Wicket keeping leg guard has two straps only.
Cricket pads can be divided based on the profiles into three types. Both batting cricket pads and wicket keeping pads have the same profiles.
- Traditional cricket batting pads/wicket keeping pads.
- Light weight cricket batting pads/wicket keeping pads.
- Moulded cricket batting pads/ wicket keeping pads.
Traditional cricket batting pads have seven canes in the vertical face of the batting pad. Traditional batting legguards provide high protection from impact of cricket balls. Traditional batting legguards are filled with cotton which provide cushion effect to the batting pad. In general these pads are heavy because of cane inserts.
Lightweight cricket batting pads have no canes in the vertical face of the batting pad. Lightweight batting pads are filled with foam. Lightweight batting pads are less in weight compared to traditional batting pads. In modern day, batting legguards with 3 or 4 canes in vertical section of the face of batting legguards are also available. They are a mixture of both traditional batting legguards and lightweight batting legguards.
Moulded cricket batting pads have no canes in the vertical face of the batting pads. Moulded pads are the lightest of all cricket batting pads. Moulded cricket batting pads are pre-shaped. Good example of this is Morrant batting pads.
Protection given to cricket pads differ based on the material used in the cricket legguards.
Cotton actually provides shock absorption and impact protection. Much of the protection in modern cricket batting pads comes in the form of cotton filling.
Cane as a stiff and fairly light wood has been the material of choice for providing more rigid support and protection to face sections of cricket batting pads.
Foam with very small bubbles which are very close together may offer great shock absorption from high speed impacts of cricket balls but very limited flexibility of batting pads. A foam with large bubbles would offer greater flexibility to batting pads but would have limited shock absorption. The single biggest benefit of high density foams are their exceptionally low weight as they are largely made up of air.
Leather has traditionally been used to form most of cricket batting pads outer layer. It provides good protection and stability to the cricket pads.
Sportskhel has the largest collection of latest sports goods introduced by top brands. We ship branded and genuine products to all parts of the world.
If you liked our guide on how to select a cricket pad, you can also read about other cricket equipment from the link below.
- Read about guide to select Cricket Bat here.
- Read about guide to select Cricket Ball here.
- Read about guide to select Cricket Glove here.
- Read about guide to select Cricket Protective Gear here.
At Sportskhel, we not only specialize in cricket, we also have guides for other games like Badminton and Table Tennis.