Sometimes when you’re searching for that perfect present, you need a little bit of inspiration! Ok, you may have worked out that the person your gift is going to is a cricket lover, and that’s a great start. But if you’re not a fan of the sport yourself, you may still be a little stuck for ideas! Hopefully with this post, I’ll be able to give you a few great suggestions that will go down a treat! And trust me, as a man who has received many cricket based gifts throughout his life, I consider myself to be a bit of an authority on this subject!
The reality is that almost every cricketer or cricket lover will have a few items in the back of their mind that they’d like to own, but for some reason they just never get around to buying them! Also, some things are just better to receive as a gift rather than buying them for yourself! So whether you’re looking to buy for one of your kids, or your mum or dad, there should be something in this list to suit everyone’s tastes!
Ok, that’s enough rambling…here are my ideas for cricket gifts….
Cufflinks
This kind of gift is great for the cricket fan who spends a lot of their life in a shirt and tie! There is a large selection of cricket based cufflinks on the market, and some of them are really smart but subtle, which in my opinion is exactly what you should be looking for!
I picked out three of my favourite styles of cricket cufflinks that I really think you should take a look at:
- Cricket Ball Cufflinks Made From A Real Cricket Ball (click to check current price on Amazon) – I had to put these first as they’re my absolute favourite. I’m actually considering buying myself some of these right now! I love the contrast of the metal and the real cricket ball design, and they’re priced very nicely!
- Onyx Art Quality Cricket Balls Cufflink Set (click to check current price on Amazon) – These are probably my second favourites. Firstly because of the nice simple, clean design – I love how the seam on the ball looks. Secondly, because of the price!
- Portland Leather Cricket Ball Cufflink Box & Cufflinks (click here to check current price on Amazon) – One of these cufflinks has a cricket bat design, and the other is shaped like a cricket ball. I like the gold detailing, and I also think they come with a pretty cool box too!
Tickets To A Match
In my opinion there’s no better gift for a true cricket lover than tickets to a cricket match! If you’re looking to buy something like this, you’ll need to think about two things:
- How much are you willing to spend?
- What teams does the person you are buying the gift for support?
Your budget is the most important thing. Remember that buying tickets for international games costs considerably more than domestic games. So if you’re short on cash, or looking for something local, have a look for tickets for your local county/state side. If you want to see your national team play, you will probably have to spend a bit of extra money! That is why it helps to know which teams the person you’re buying the gift for is a fan of! If they are like me and love to follow the England cricket team up and down the country, you may want to confine your search to international match tickets!
The downside to picking up tickets for international games is that you may have to enter a ballot for a ticket, and of course there is always the chance you may be unsuccessful in that ballot! However, the ballot is not the only way to secure tickets for matches that your national team is playing. Recently I picked up three tickets for day 1 of England’s 2019 test match against Ireland from www.viagogo.co.uk for a cost of £60 each, and there are plenty of limited overs match tickets on sale too! Viagogo provide an online marketplace in which fans can buy and sell tickets to live events. The only downside is that fans can re-sell the tickets at whatever price they choose, which means they could charge you more than the original price of the ticket! You can occasionally find some amazing deals though, so keep an eye out on there for a bargain. It’s a pretty hassle-free way of picking up tickets if you ask me! As an alternative to Viagogo, I also regularly use www.stubhub.com, who essentially offer the same service. Have a browse on both sites and see if you can find a good deal!
Engravable Pewter Pocket Watch
This is probably one for the slightly older cricket fans out there, but I think this is a really classy little item, and it’s available at a great price. The pocket watch itself is visually impressive with a cricket design on the front, and looks like it would make a great display piece! Also, the best part is probably that the back of it can be engraved! You can add a personal message up to 70 characters long to make the gift just that little bit more special. In my opinion this would be a great gift for an anniversary or a significant birthday! It also comes with a case so it can be stored away easily.
As I said it’s probably not one for the kids but if you’re buying for an older fan it might be the perfect option! If you’d like to check the current price of this item on Amazon then click here!
Cricket Clothing
If you’re buying a gift for someone who regularly plays cricket for their club side, it may be a good idea to pick them out a new cricket shirt, or some trousers. I know from experience that these items can easily get ruined, and it’s always a good idea to have an extra one of each! Most match-worn cricket clothing is white or cream in colour, so bear that in mind when you’re making the purchase. Most online sports retailers will have cricket shirts and trousers available, so just have a browse online and see what you can find. Also, this may seem obvious but remember you’ll have to know the sizes of the person you’re buying the gift for!
For the upper body it’s often a good idea to own both a long-sleeved and a short-sleeved shirt just so you have all your bases covered! If the person you’re buying for is missing one of those then maybe that would be a good thing to buy! You can pick up adult sized cricket shirts from popular brands like Adidas for around £20 and under, and this goes for both men and women! Junior cricket shirts are obviously even cheaper!
You can also pick up pairs of white cricket trousers made by brands such as Adidas and Gray Nicolls for less than £20.
I think this is a great option for a gift if you’re looking for something relatively cheap and easy!
Fielding Net
Fielding nets are another brilliant piece of cricket equipment that can be used to practice your skills and have fun at the same time! The product is basically a net that is tightly wound around a solid metal frame. This means that when a ball is thrown at the net, it will bounce off at an accelerated speed! You can also adjust the angle of the net so that the ball will fly off in different directions. This makes the fielding net a great gift for those that want to practice their catching skills, or those kids that just love diving around in the garden for hours on end!
Fielding nets come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Slightly smaller ones for home use, and larger ones for team practice sessions. Again, I’ve picked out two of my favourite versions for you to have a look at:
- Hunts County Rebound Net (click to check current price on Amazon) – This is one of the highest rated rebound nets on the market. The size of the net is 1 metre wide and 1 metre high, and if you choose to buy this they’ll also chuck in a pack of 3 freeway balls. The product should arrive fully assembled and be ready to use straight away! This would be my number one choice for a rebound net!
- RapidFire Cricket Rebound Net (click to check current price on Amazon) – This one is very similar to the first one, except this one is double sided! Instead of having one netted surface to aim the ball at, you have two! In my opinion this is more suited to club practice sessions, or more suited to people who have multiple cricket loving children that they’re trying to satisfy! Check it out and see what you think!
Spring Loaded Stumps
A lot of cricketers want to be able to practice whilst they’re at home! But, a traditional set of cricket stumps have to be physically inserted into the ground, and sadly, not everyone has a garden that you can insert stumps into! And even if you do have a garden it may not be big enough to use like a full-length cricket pitch! That’s why a set of spring loaded stumps are so useful! They allow you to practice anywhere, on any surface due to the fact that the stumps are mounted on to a solid base. Each stump is also connected to a spring so that it will pop back into place when you hit it with a ball! I got a set of these when I was around 14 years old and I would bowl at them for hours in my driveway. We had a really small garden so I had to do what I could to find a way to practice! You can pick up a great set of spring loaded stumps from Amazon for a pretty decent price! Click the link here to have a look at what I think is by far the best value version!
Cricket Bag
Cricketers have a lot of equipment to carry around, and this why having a good quality cricket bag is so important! If the person you’re buying a gift for already owns a cricket bag that is in good working order, you may want to hold off on buying one. But if they are new to the game, or their old bag is a bit of a mess, I’m sure they would appreciate you purchasing one of these for them!
In a good quality cricket bag there are a few things you should be looking for:
- A Solid Plastic/Metal Handle For Dragging The Case
- Wheels – So that the bag can easily be dragged around
- Carry Handles – These are used if you want to pick the bag up and carry it
- SPACE! – You have to make sure the bag you’re looking at has enough room to hold a full set of cricket equipment
- Different Compartments – It’s always handy to have a few different compartments within the bag if you want to keep different bits of kit separate.
If you’re buying for a teenager/adult, you’ll need a bigger bag because of the bigger size of equipment. In that case, I’d definitely recommend the Woodworm Pro Series MKII bag (click here to check current price on amazon). This bag has so much space, more than your average club cricketer will ever need. It has multiple different compartments, wheels, and most importantly, it’s available at a great price! To be honest, you’d usually expect to pay a lot more for a bag of this quality!
If your gift is for someone under the age of 13, you may want to consider a slightly smaller bag. For that I’d recommend the Kookaburra 2019 Pro 1500 (click here to check the current price on Amazon). It has all the space a junior cricketer needs, and is made by a popular brand in Kookaburra!
National Team Shirt
Most sports fans love being bought a bit of their favourite teams’ merchandise, and what better to buy than the shirt that they play in! Obviously again you will have to know the size of the person you’re buying for but that’s not too hard to guess or figure out!
These are available at most sports retailers as well as on the national team websites. For an adult international cricket shirt you’ll usually be paying around £50, whereas the junior shirts are a bit less expensive, usually coming in at around £40.
Bowling Machine
These are quite an investment but there’s honestly no better way to practice your batting at home than by using a bowling machine. Bowling machines are used to simulate deliveries that batsmen receive from fast bowlers! They allow the user to set a number of things, such as the speed of bowling they would like to face, and where they want the machine to bowl. This allows the user to work on specific areas of their batting technique, and you don’t even need a partner to bowl to you!
Some bowling machines are incredibly expensive, with the high-end ones sometimes costing over £1000!! However, I recently found the Paceman Original S2 Bowling Machine (click here to check the price on Amazon) which is a much cheaper version that is suitable for use at home! It has a maximum bowling speed of up to 100kph (60mph) which means it’s perfect for cricketers aged 17 or under, but adults can definitely have fun with it too! It’s easy to set up and put away, and comes with an automatic 12 ball feeder. These are great because it means you don’t need a partner to stand there and feed the balls into the machine for you while you bat!
Bear in mind that if you choose to buy a bowling machine like this you will need a few things:
- A mains power supply
- A flat space in which to use the bowling machine (ideally a bit longer than the length of a cricket pitch 20.12 metres, however it can be shorter)
- Most bowling machines only work with specific types of balls. Ensure you buy the correct ones for the machine you choose to buy (full details should be given on purchase page on Amazon)
As I said earlier, these are quite an investment but I really think they’re worth every penny for a young player who loves cricket and is looking to improve their game quickly!
Cricket Bat Stickers
Some players like to replace the stickers on their bat when they get worn. Or maybe they bought a plain bat so they could apply their own stickers to personalise the bat? The good news is that stickers for a cricket bat are pretty cheap, and there’s so many available on line! You should be able to pick these up for less than £10.
Memorabilia
When I was a teenager my parents bought me a signed picture of a few members of the 2005 Ashes winning team. It’s still one of my treasured possessions and has its own spot in my house. Meaningful gifts like this are great for your serious cricket fans.
There is all sorts of cricket memorabilia floating about on the internet, from signed photos, to signed balls and bats. Again, if you know the person you’re buying the gift for has a favourite player then why not look to buy something that was autographed by that player? You may be surprised at the prices you can get this kind of stuff for, and many of the pieces you can pick up will be great for displaying at home!
Speed Reaction Ball
I really like this one as it’s really cheap but kids (and adults) can have loads of fun with it!
Basically, it is an oddly shaped rubber ball, and when thrown at the ground or a surface like a wall it will bounce off at random angles! It is used by cricketers to help improve their reaction times and agility, and can be used alone or in large groups of people. This is the kind of thing I would mess around with in the garden for hours when I was a kid!
Obviously, your budget is the main factor when it comes to choosing what to buy and that’s why these are such a great little item. You can usually pick them up for £5-£10. Click here to check the latest price on Amazon!
Cricket Video Game
The first ever cricket video game I bought was Brian Lara International Cricket in 2005 for my PlayStation 2, and they’ve moved on a lot since then! The hottest cricket release on the market right now is Cricket 19! It’s been released for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC. So if you’re buying for someone who’s a huge cricket fan as well as a gamer, this might be a good gift to consider!
Tour Of A Cricket Ground
Lots of historic stadiums across the world offer tours to fans! This allows them to go behind the scenes and see what the players see. The dressing rooms, the press rooms, the equipment rooms, the whole lot!
For English cricket fans, there’s probably no better stadium to tour than Lords! If you go to the Lords website you can book a slot for a tour pretty quickly! As I’m writing this, adult tickets are £25, senior tickets (over 60’s) are £20, student tickets are £18 (you’ll need to bring a form of student ID) and tickets for children (ages 5-15) are £16. They also offer a family ticket! Children under the age of 5 can enter for free! I think this is so well priced considering its one of the most historic cricket grounds in the world and I’m hoping to book a tour for myself this summer!
If you don’t live close to Lords, or if you live in a different country entirely, check your local test match venue and see if they offer any tours! I know several English grounds offer them, and so does the SCG and MCG in Australia! There will be loads more grounds in other countries that offer them too so do a bit of investigating and see what’s available.
Cricket Autobiographies
If the person you’re buying for always has their head in a book, and is obsessed with cricket, then an autobiography of one of their favourite players is a great option for a gift! I read so many of these when I was growing up, starting with my favourite players at the time like Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen, then moving back to older players like Dennis Lillee!
Do a bit of investigative work to find out if the person you’re buying for has a favourite player! There’s a high chance that that player will have written an autobiography, a lot of cricketers seem to pump them out fairly regularly these days!
There are loads of these on sale at local bookstores, as well as online book retailers, and they will always be in budget for most people!