Cricket clothing and equipment

In cricket a whole lot of equipment is needed in a particular match. The clothing also is slightly loosely fitting so that it is comfortable.

Equipment

• Ball – A red or white ball with a cork base, wrapped in twine covered with leather. The ball should have a circumference of 23 cm (9 inches)
• Bat – A wooden bat is used. The wood used is from the Kashmir or English willow tree. The bat cannot be more than 38 inches (96.5 cm) long and 4.25 inches wide (10.8 cm). Aluminium bats are not allowed. The bat has a long handle and one side has a smooth face.
• Stumps – 3 wooden poles known as the stumps.
• Bails – Two crosspieces known as the bails
• Sight screen – A screen placed at the boundary known as the sight screen. This is aligned exactly parallel to the width of the pitch and behind both pairs of wickets.
• Boundary – A rope demarcating the perimeter of the field known as the boundary.

Clothing and protective wear

• A T-shirt
• Pyjama like pants
• Sweater (if necessary)
• Helmet (often with a visor)
• Caps
• Shin pads – used to protect the shin bone
• Arm guard, chest guard, elbow guard and to protect the body.
• Gloves for batsmen only
• Wicket keeper's gloves for the wicket-keeper which are larger and look like mitts. Usually includes a webbing.
• Spiked shoes to increase traction.

Batsmen are allowed to wear gloves while batting. The batsman can be also out caught if the ball touches the glove instead of the bat. This is because the glove is considered to be the extension of the bat. The batsman may also wear protective helmets usually with a visor to protect themselves. Helmets are usually employed when facing fast bowlers. While playing spinners, it might not be employed.

Fielders cannot use gloves to field the ball. If they use any part of their clothing to field the ball lest they may be penalised 6 penalty runs to the opposition. If the fielders are fielding close to the batsman, they are allowed to use helmets.

The wicketkeeper, due to his proximity to the batsman is allowed to wear shin pads, a helmet, a light internal glove and a large external glove like a mitt.

Team colours

For test cricket matches, the clothing (shirts and trousers) worn by the players are full white. The team logo is marked on their shirt. Helmets and caps however are allowed to be in the colour of the team. If a sweater is used, the V–neck border also carries the team colour. Umpires have to wear black pants and white shirt.

In ODI matches, the entire clothing is coloured according to the team colours. Umpires may also wear hued clothing.

• Australia: Gold and Green
• Bangladesh: Dark green and Red
• England: Dark blue and Red
• New Zealand: Black and White (since ca. 2001 - originally New Zealand used beige and black, then (from ca. 1992) grey and black, until the development of a black fabric that would not get too hot).
• India: Light blue and Yellow
• Pakistan: Green and Yellow
• South Africa: Green and Gold
• Sri Lanka: Blue and Yellow
• West Indies: Maroon
• Zimbabwe: Pink and Green
• Kenya: Light green and red
• Scotland: Navy Blue and White
• The Netherlands: Orange
• Hong Kong: Red and Blue
• Canada: Red and Black
• UAE: Grey