We assess the key considerations to help you make the right decision when choosing your brand-new cricket bag.
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, it is vital you choose the right size and configuration for your needs.
Our new cricket bag must combine style with practicality so 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.
Do you want to carry it or pull it?
Now you have an idea of how much kit you have the next thought is what size bag you want.
Cricket bags come in a variety of different types from a small holdall, a rucksack, a duffle bag and a bag with wheels.
The big bag with wheels is popular for players with lots of cricket kit, holdalls are for those junior cricketers starting out or those who don’t have much kit and duffle bags are popular with those that like to carry their kit on both shoulders.
Cricket duffle bags have become a popular choice for cricketers and you may have noticed that more manufacturers now stock them. This summer in the Serious Cricket shop we have sold a larger number of duffle bags compared to previous seasons, due to availability and popularity.
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 the future maybe?
As with all our cricket kit advice, it is a personal preference but 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 a bag which is too big for a young cricketer they 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 month’s time. You won’t have to buy another bag at the same time!
