Every season we play this wonderful game and drag, pull or carry our cricket bag out of the car to the pavilion and dump it in the dressing room and there it stays until the end of the game when it reverses the journey from the dressing room to the car.

When I first played cricket, the club had a team kit bag, and everyone used club pads and gloves. That cricket bag went to every game. Eventually, everyone started to buy their own batting pads and gloves and personal cricket bags became the norm.

Another significant development in cricket bags came with the introduction of coffins.

They were usually black in colour and coffin-like in size, and dressing rooms were full of them!

The evolution of cricket bags has meant that you can now easily wheel or carry your bag to games and whilst you will want your cricket bag to look the part, you must choose the right size and configuration for your needs.

In this blog, we take a look at the key considerations to help you make the right decision when choosing your brand-new cricket bag.

Our new cricket wheel bag or duffle must look good and be the right size to carry all our kit in, and there are a few considerations to help you make the right decision.

How much cricket kit do you have?

A younger cricketer will have the basic kit of bat, gloves, pads, helmet and box, and an adult cricketer may also have a thigh pad, arm guard, spare gloves and spare bat to accommodate.

Don’t forget, for some this is going to be a multi-purpose bag, and they will need room for school or work clothing, your cricket clothing, multi pairs of shoes etc…

Also, if you keep wicket, you will have more kit to carry around so a larger bag that can cope with all this extra kit is a must.

One bag is better than two, and it will need to be big enough to do the job.

Carry & Pull

This season we have seen the introduction of a new type of cricket bag… the Hybrid bag. One you can carry like a duffle or pull like a wheelie. Not many cricket brands offer this type of hybrid bag but those who do, only tend to offer one. It comes in a large size and carries an expensive price tag, but offers the best of both a wheelie and duffle. One to look out for in the future maybe?

There isn’t a right or wrong answer it’s a personal preference as to whether you should pull it or carry it but do make sure it fits your circumstances. For example, if you have a long trip from the car park to the pavilion you might want to pull your bag on wheels rather than carry it.

Size of the bag - Do you want one big space or lots of compartments?

When you buy a bag, please remember who is going to be carrying or pulling it. If you buy too big a bag your young cricketer may not be able to move it.

Also, check out the size of your car boot as well. It would be a shame if your new cricket bag didn’t fit inside the car.

We all have our inner nerd, and you might be a compartment freak. With bat caves, shoe or helmet compartments, you can arrange your kit in any way you want, and there is a great deal of practicality to this. Bat caves are designed for players who carry several bats to the game and keeping your shoes away from the rest of your kit when they may be muddy is a good thing (also spikes can damage your kit). The trade-off to having a bag with more compartments is that it may cost you a bit more, but it could be money well spent in the long term.

Buy for now or buy for the future? 

If your young cricketer is in a youth-size kit and is likely to move up to a junior size, it is worth buying a bigger bag to accommodate the next set of kit you will buy in six months. You won’t have to buy another bag at the same time!

Something to consider when you buy in-store or online? 

Last and not least make sure you can fit all your cricket kit inside your new cricket bag before you buy it!

I know that is difficult to do when you buy your bag online. However, you could measure your current bag and compare that with the bag you are thinking of buying.

If you buy your cricket bag in-store you can check the size of the bag by picking up a set of pads, a bat etc… and put it in the bag you are thinking of buying.

TOP TIP - Don’t overfill it though as this puts pressure on the zips and this is one of the main causes of bag returns we see in the shop.

How Much Do Cricket Bags Cost?

Cricket bags and duffles vary in cost. Here is a rough guide of what a bag will cost you and what you are likely to get for that cost.

Top-end bags and duffles - £80 to £120

Rough bag capacity size - 126 to 144 litres.

A stand-alone cricket bag, with shoe tunnels, integrated bat sleeves, anti-scuff corner protection, padded straps, internal pouches, both padded and moulded rubber handles, a padded double     strap design, with a lined valuables pocket.

Mid-range cricket bags and duffles - £50 to £80

Rough bag capacity size - 80 to 110 litres.

It’s likely to have a shoe tunnel, integrated bat sleeves or a side pocket for the bat, zipped side pockets, an internal pouch, padded or moulded rubber handles, or 2 side pockets.

Smaller bags and duffles - £25 to £45

Rough bag capacity - 25 to 55 litres

What you get for a smaller bag or duffle. Will probably come with an end panel bat handle ring or a side pocket for the bat, with one compartment.

Brands

Most manufacturers provide large cricket bag ranges for the customer to purchase. However, they do vary in size, and colour between each manufacturer.

You can be loud in colour or understated as you like!

Gunn and Moore, offer a couple of great little duffle bag options plus some mid-range wheelie bags finishing with a large wheelie and duffle bag option.

Kookaburra bags are black and multi-coloured, and they follow the bat family in the range of colours they offer. All bag sizes are catered for and they have a decent range of cricket wheel bags and duffles.

Gray-Nicolls are usually dressed in red and black, and they cover all bag bases as well.

DSC have all bag size ranges covered and their bags come in a range of funky colours and have proved popular in our shop!

New Balance has a big cricket bag range offering and just like some of the other top bag manufacturers their bags follow the bat families in colour!

Newbury has a smaller bag offering that follows the bat family with a colour range.

Chase Cricket have a small cricket bag range offering, bags are dressed in black and made in a more hardwearing material than most manufacturers.

Click here to see the range of cricket bags we offer at Serious Cricket, and for more information on cricket bags please email Chris at chris@serioussport.co.uk or call him on 01256 398633