Size Guides

Cricket kit is sized by the player's body, not by age. A ten-year-old who has had a growth spurt takes a bigger bat than a thirteen-year-old who has not. Every table on this page is keyed to a height or a tape measurement — take the thirty seconds to measure, and you will get it right first time.

The sizes named in these tables are the exact options you will see in the size drop-down on our product pages. Indian manufacturers — DSC, SF, EM, GN, MRF, SG, SS, Shrey — use Boys / Youth / Mens for protective gear and No. 4 / No. 5 / No. 6 / Harrow / SH for bats, so that is the vocabulary we have kept.

Jump to your product

• Cricket bats — English and Kashmir willow
• Bat weight
• Tennis-ball, coaching, kids and miniature bats
• Right hand or left hand?
• Batting pads (leg guards)
• Batting gloves, inners and fielding gloves
• Wicket-keeping gloves, inners and pads
• Thigh pads
• Arm and elbow guards
• Chest guards
• Abdominal guards and athletic supporters
• Helmets and helmet accessories
• Cricket balls
• Bat grips
• Kit bags, duffles and backpacks
• Shirts, trousers and compression wear
• Socks
• Caps, hats and headbands
• Cricket shoes
• Cricket kits and sets
• Sizing FAQ

The three measurements you need

Almost everything on this page comes off one of these. A cloth tape is ideal; a piece of string against a ruler works just as well.

1. Height — barefoot, back to a wall. Drives bats, pads, thigh pads, arm guards and kits.
2. Knee to instep — sit down, and measure in a straight line from the middle of your kneecap to the top of your foot where the shoe laces start. Drives batting pads and keeping pads.
3. Hand length — from the tip of the middle finger straight down to the crease at the base of the palm, hand flat. Drives batting and keeping gloves.

Head circumference (helmets and caps) and foot length (shoes) are covered in their own sections below.

Cricket bats

Applies to English willow and Kashmir willow bats alike — grade affects performance and price, never size.

Short Handle is the standard adult bat and is right for the large majority of senior players — Long Handle only adds length in the handle, Long Blade only in the blade, and neither is a "better" bat. Harrow is the step between junior and adult: full adult width, about ¾" shorter and noticeably lighter, and it is the correct bat for a tall 13-year-old who is not yet strong enough for a senior.

If you are between two sizes, take the smaller one. A bat that is fractionally short still lets you play straight; a bat that is too long forces the hands away from the body and turns good drives into edges. Do not buy a size up "to grow into" — a junior will spend a whole season fighting it.

A note on combined sizes. Some manufacturers list a bat as Size 6/5, Size 4/3 or Size 2/1. That is the vendor's own paired listing covering both sizes in that band. Order the pair and tell us in the order notes which of the two you want, or message us first and we will confirm what is physically on the shelf.

Bat weight

Weight matters more than most players expect. A bat you cannot swing quickly costs you far more runs than a few extra grams of willow ever earns you. The honest test: hold the bat one-handed in your top hand and lift it to the top of your backlift. If your wrist collapses, it is too heavy.

Willow is a natural material, so listed weights are nominal and individual bats vary. If weight is critical to you, tell us the range you want when you order and we will weigh the actual bats in stock before we ship one — we would rather do that than have it come back.

Tennis-ball, coaching, kids and miniature bats

• Tennis-ball bats — sold as SNR (senior, equivalent to Short Handle) and in the junior Size 6/5 and Size 4/3 bands. Use the bat table above; they are lighter than a leather-ball bat of the same size and are not built to face a hard ball.
• Coaching and practice bats — catching bats, half bats and shadow bats are sold SNR or Mens and are one size. They are training tools, not match bats.
• Plastic and kids bats — sized Size 2 / Size 4 / Size 6 / Full. Match the number to the bat table above; Full is adult length.
• Miniature bats — 15", 17" and 18" display and autograph bats. Decorative, not for play.

Right hand or left hand?

Batting gloves, batting pads and thigh pads are handed, and on our product pages you choose Right Hand or Left Hand alongside the size.

Order by the way you bat, not by the hand you write with. A right-handed batter — the one who stands with their left shoulder pointing down the pitch — takes Right Hand gear. Plenty of naturally right-handed people bat left-handed and vice versa; what matters is your stance.

Why it matters: on a right-hand batting glove the extra protection sits on the left (top) hand, which faces the bowler; on a right-hand pad set the wider wraparound instep is on the front leg. Wear the wrong pair and the reinforced side is on the wrong side of your body. Wicket-keeping gloves, arm guards, chest guards and helmets are not handed.

Batting pads (leg guards)

Measure from the middle of your kneecap straight down to the top of your foot where the laces begin. Take the measurement in your batting stance if you can — bent knee, weight forward.

A few models are sold as Compact: adult width with a shorter, lighter build, made for adults under about 5'7" and for players who want less bulk on the back leg. Take it as a small men's.

Checking the fit. Buckled up in your stance, the top of the pad should sit just above the top knee roll with the knee cup centred on the kneecap, and the bottom should clear the top of your shoe. If the pad digs into your instep when you run, it is too long. Three straps is standard for adults; junior pads usually have two.

Batting gloves, inner gloves and fielding gloves

Measure your hand flat, from the tip of the middle finger straight down to the crease at the base of the palm.

Checking the fit. Your fingertips should just reach the ends of the finger stalls — a few millimetres of air is right, a centimetre is not. Leather palms give a little as they break in, so a snug new glove is better than a loose one. You should be able to close your bottom hand fully around the handle without the glove bunching in the palm.

Gloves are handed — see right hand or left hand above.

Inner gloves (cotton or chamois) follow the same Boys / Youth / Mens scale. Buy them in the same size as your batting gloves, not a size down: they are cut to layer. If you always wear inners, size your batting gloves with them on.

Fielding gloves are sold Youth and Mens and should fit tighter than batting gloves — close enough to feel the ball.

Wicket-keeping gloves, inner gloves and pads

Keeping gloves use the same Boys / Youth / Mens scale and the same hand-length measurement as batting gloves, with one important difference: they are always worn over inners, usually cotton or chamois, and often with sausage-roll padding as well. Measure your hand with the inner already on, and if you are on the boundary between two sizes take the larger — a keeping glove that is too tight cannot be closed properly around the ball.

Keeping gloves are not handed: they are sold as a matched left-and-right pair.

Keeping inner gloves come in Boys / Youth / Mens and should match the outer glove size.

Keeping pads are shorter, lighter and narrower than batting pads, with no bolster on the outside of the knee, so you can crouch. They use the same knee-to-instep measurement as the batting pad table. They are not handed — a keeping pad set is symmetrical.

Thigh pads

Sold as Boys / Youth / Mens — a few models also as Junior / Adult, which are the same thing. Combination sets (front thigh plus inner thigh, joined) and single front thigh guards both use this scale.

Thigh pads are handed on most models — the main guard goes on your front thigh, so a right-hand batter's front leg is the left one. Choose the hand that matches how you bat and we will send the correct set. The pad should cover from just above the knee to the top of the thigh and be strapped tight enough that it does not rotate when you run a quick single.

Arm and elbow guards

Sold Boys / Youth / Mens, sized by player height rather than by arm measurement.

The guard goes on your top arm — the left arm for a right-hand batter — and should cover from just below the shoulder muscle to just past the point of the elbow. An elbow-only guard is lighter and is enough for most players; a full forearm guard adds cover down to the wrist and is worth it on quick or uneven pitches.

Arm sleeves (compression, not protective) are sold S/M and L/XL: measure around the widest part of your elbow. S/M fits 23–28 cm, L/XL fits 28–36 cm.

Chest guards

Sold Boys / Youth / Mens. Measure around the fullest part of your chest, under the arms.

A chest guard is worn under the shirt, strapped across the back. It should cover the sternum and the ribs on your front side without restricting your arms in the backlift. If you can only justify one extra piece of protection for a junior facing hard-ball bowling for the first time, this is a strong candidate.

Abdominal guards and athletic supporters

An abdominal guard (box) is not optional for anyone facing or keeping to a hard ball, at any age. The guard is the moulded cup; the supporter is the brief or jockstrap that holds it in place. Some products include both, some are sold separately — check the product page.

Men's and boys' guards are sized by waist:

Women's and girls' guards are a different shape — wider, flatter and lower — and are listed separately as Womens and Girls. A men's box does not fit and does not protect correctly; do not substitute one.

Athletic supporters sold on their own run XS / S / M / L / XL / 2XL / 3XL / 4XL and follow the waist measurements in the apparel chart. Buy them snug — a loose supporter lets the guard shift, which defeats the point.

Helmets and helmet accessories

Wrap a tape around your head about 2 cm above your eyebrows, across the widest part of the back of your skull. Measure over your hair as you normally wear it playing.

There is no cross-brand standard for helmet S/M/L, so ranges shift a centimetre or so between Shrey, DSC, SF, GN and MRF. If your measurement lands on a boundary, ask us and we will check the specific model against the manufacturer's own chart before you order.

Safety — please read this part. Buy a helmet certified to BS 7928:2013 (many are marked BS 7928:2013 + A1:2019). The ICC recommends a certified helmet for every player batting, keeping up to the stumps, or fielding within eight yards of the batter, and most Canadian leagues and all school cricket require one for juniors. Junior-specific helmets should also be tested against the 4¾ oz junior ball as well as the 5½ oz senior ball — the Shrey and DSC junior models we stock state this on the product page.

Checking the fit. The peak should sit level with your eyebrows. Shake your head firmly: the helmet should not move independently of your scalp. Then set the grille so the gap between the peak and the top bar is smaller than a cricket ball — a ball that can enter the gap is the single most common serious helmet injury, and it is entirely preventable.

Helmet accessories. Neck guards and stem guards are sold S / M / L (some as JNR / SNR or M/L) and are matched to the helmet shell size, not to your head — buy the size that matches the helmet you own. They are model-specific on many brands, so check the fitment note on the product page before ordering.

Cricket balls

Leather balls are sold by weight, and the weight is set by the Laws of Cricket:

Red or white? Red balls are for longer-format, daytime cricket and are the traditional choice for practice; white balls are for limited-overs and floodlit cricket. They are the same size and weight — the difference is the finish and how it wears. Where we list a ball as Red or White, that is the colour option, not a size.

Tennis and training balls are one size. Hard tennis balls (taped or heavy) play faster and lower than soft ones and are the standard for street and tape-ball cricket; soft and wind balls are for indoor and beginner sessions.

Note for 2026: the MCC has restructured ball specifications into Size 1 (men's), Size 2 (women's) and Size 3 (junior), effective 1 October 2026. The weights above are unchanged — only the naming is new, and we will update our listings as manufacturers relabel.

Bat grips

Grips are one size and stretch to fit any full-size or junior handle. The options on our grip listings — 1 PC, 3 PCS, 12 PCS — are pack quantities, not sizes. A 12-pack is the sensible buy for a club or academy.

A grip lasts a season of regular use before it goes slick. Fitting a second grip over the first, or adding a rubber "chevron" cone underneath, thickens the handle — useful if you have large hands or find the standard handle thin.

Kit bags, duffles and backpacks

Bags are one size; what varies is capacity and whether a bat will actually fit. The number that matters is the longest internal dimension, which we list on the product page in inches.

A Short Handle bat is 33½" long, so a bag under 34" internal will not close over one — this is the most common bag-buying mistake. Wheelie bags carry the most and save your back but weigh more empty; duffles are lighter and easier on stairs and transit. Backpacks and holdalls (19"–24") carry pads, gloves, shoes and a helmet but not a bat, unless they have an external bat sleeve — several of ours do.

Shirts, trousers, shorts and compression wear

Adult playing kit runs XS to 3XL. Measure your chest at the fullest point under the arms, and your waist at your natural waistline without pulling the tape tight. These are the official manufacturer measurements from the Shrey range and are representative of the other brands we carry.

Men's

Women's

Junior — the 26 to 34 sizes

Where a shirt or trouser is listed 26, 28, 30, 32 or 34, that is the junior size number, not a waist measurement in inches. It is the chest size in inches, and it maps as follows:

Compression wear — base layers, skins and compression shorts — uses the same XS–3XL chart, but is meant to fit tight against the skin. Take your true size, not a size up; loose compression wear does nothing. Where a listing shows a colour (Black, Navy, Skin, White) in the size drop-down, the garment is one size or the colour is the only choice on that variant.

Cricket whites are cut generously through the leg for running and sliding. If you are between sizes on trousers, size down for a modern slim fit or stay true to size for the traditional cut.

Socks

Cricket socks are sized by UK shoe size. These are the manufacturer's measurements:

Where socks are listed as one size, they are OSFA and fit roughly UK 3½–9½. Cricket socks are deliberately thick — factor them in when you size your shoes.

Caps, hats, headbands and wristbands

Measure your head the same way as for a helmet — around, about 2 cm above the eyebrows.

Caps with a fitted band run to the sizes above; adjustable and snapback caps are one size. Wristbands and headbands are one size and stretch.

Cricket shoes

We list cricket shoes in US men's sizing. The most reliable way to order is by foot length: stand on a sheet of paper with your heel against a wall, mark the end of your longest toe, and measure. Measure both feet at the end of the day and use the longer one.

Cricket shoes fit close, and you will be wearing thick socks — if you are between sizes, go up, and leave about a thumb's width between your longest toe and the end of the shoe. Asics run slightly narrow and true to their running lasts; Adidas run true with a slightly wider forefoot.

Spikes or rubber? Full-spike shoes are for grass, and most bowlers want them. Rubber-soled and half-spike shoes are for artificial wickets, indoor nets and matting — and nearly every indoor facility in Canada bans metal spikes outright, so check before you turn up.

Cricket kits and sets

A complete kit is sized by the bat inside it, so use the bat size table: Size 1 through Size 6, then Full or SH for adult. Kits listed as Boys, S. Boys, Youth or Mens follow the protective-gear scale — match the player's height to the batting pad table.

Kits are built around one player's dimensions, so the pads, gloves and guard inside are all the matching size. If the player is between sizes — tall for their age with small hands, say — buying the pieces separately will fit better than a kit will.

Check what the kit actually includes on the product page. Most include bat, pads, gloves, abdominal guard, thigh pad and a bag; helmets, shoes and balls are usually extra.

Sizing FAQ

I'm between two sizes. Up or down?

It depends on the item. Bats, pads and thigh pads — go down. Something slightly short still lets you play properly; something too long gets in the way of your feet. Gloves, helmets and shoes — go up, because a tight glove cannot be closed, a tight helmet will not be worn, and a tight shoe ends a season early. Keeping gloves — always up, since they go over inners.

My child is between sizes and growing fast. Should I buy the bigger one anyway?

No — not for a bat or for pads. An oversized bat teaches a child to reach for the ball and to play away from their body, and those habits outlast the bat. Junior bats are the cheapest item in the kit precisely because they get replaced every year or two. Clothing and bags are the place to buy room to grow.

What is the difference between Boys, Youth and Mens?

They are the Indian manufacturers' three protective-gear sizes, and they correspond to roughly 8–11, 11–14 and 14-plus by height, not by birthday. Boys ≈ under 4'11", Youth ≈ 4'11" to 5'4", Mens ≈ 5'4" and over. Some catalogues call the same three sizes Junior, Youth and Senior, or Small Boys / Boys / Youth / Mens where a fourth, smaller size exists.

How do I know whether I need Right Hand or Left Hand?

Go by your batting stance, not your writing hand. If you stand with your left shoulder facing the bowler, you are a right-hand batter and you need Right Hand gloves, pads and thigh pads. See right hand or left hand for the detail.

SH, SNR, Senior, Mens, Full — are these the same size?

For bats, yes: Short Handle, SNR, Senior, Mens and Full all mean the standard adult bat, about 33½" overall, for players 5'9" and up. Different manufacturers just label it differently and we have kept each vendor's own wording so it matches what is printed on the bat.

A bat is listed as "Size 6/5" or "Size 4/3". Which one will I get?

That is the manufacturer's own combined listing for the two sizes in that band. Put the size you want in the order notes, or contact us first and we will tell you exactly what is in stock before you pay.

Is Harrow a junior bat or an adult bat?

Both, in a sense. A Harrow is full adult width but about ¾" shorter and meaningfully lighter than a Short Handle. It is the right bat for a player around 5'5" to 5'9" who has outgrown a Size 6 but cannot yet swing a senior bat properly, and plenty of shorter adults play with one by choice.

Does a bigger size mean a better bat?

No. Size is fit; grade is quality. Grade 1 English willow has more, straighter grains and a cleaner face than Grade 3; Kashmir willow is denser and harder than English willow and is the sensible choice for tennis-ball and social cricket. A Grade 1 bat in the wrong size will play worse than a Grade 4 in the right one.

Do I need a helmet, and does the certification really matter?

If you are facing a hard ball, keeping up to the stumps, or fielding close in — yes, and yes. Look for BS 7928:2013 on the label. Older helmets built to the withdrawn 1998 standard, and uncertified helmets, have a documented history of the ball passing between the peak and the grille. Most Canadian leagues and all school cricket mandate a certified helmet for juniors. See helmets for the fit check.

Will a Shrey helmet size fit like a DSC or SF one?

Roughly, but not exactly — there is no cross-brand standard for helmet S/M/L, and ranges shift about a centimetre between brands. Measure your head, then ask us about the specific model if you are near a boundary. We will check it against the manufacturer's chart before you order.

Are your sizes Indian, UK or Canadian?

Our brands are Indian manufacturers building to the international cricket scales, so bats, pads, gloves and helmets follow the same sizing you would find in the UK or Australia. The two exceptions worth knowing: socks are labelled in UK shoe sizes, and shoes are labelled in US sizes — both are converted in the tables above.

The size I want is not in the drop-down. Can you get it?

Often, yes. Many models are made in sizes we have not stocked, and we order from the manufacturers' full ranges. Tell us the product and the size and we will tell you the lead time. Clubs and academies ordering a squad's worth should use club and academy inquiries.

What if I measure carefully and it still doesn't fit?

Send it back. You have 30 days to return an unused item in its original packaging — see returns and exchanges for how. Two things are not returnable: a bat that has been knocked in or oiled, and a personalised bat. So if you are unsure about bat size or weight, ask us before you start knocking in, not after.

Still unsure? Ask us.

Tell us the player's height, age and what they play — hard ball or tennis ball, club or school — and we will tell you exactly what to order. If it is a bat, we will go and weigh the actual stock rather than quote the catalogue.

Questions? Email akshayn1388@gmail.com, or use our contact form.