Assalaamo-3laekum
This is the second part in my series looking at the history of cricket equipment and how it has changed over the years. The first piece, published last week, focused on the interesting history of helmets. This week I’m looking at another essential piece of gear – a cricketers pads. Often overlooked in the fashion stakes, these tend to take the most punishment, so they need to be durable and trustworthy, but also mobile and light.
The style and design of cricket pads has remained largely unchanged for over a hundred years, as CB Fry here shows. The only major change has been the striking move from buckle straps to velcro straps. Something that did not shake the cricket world.
CB Fry in his batting stance, some point between 1909 and 1921
However, what has changed is the material used to make batting pads. Traditional pads were made from cotton, foam and cane rods to create the piping which wraps around the leg. As such, they were heavy and cumbersome – not the most mobile of kit.
Modern pads are much lighter and practical, whilst retaining the protection of the old fashioned pads. They are made from ultra-light materials such as PVC – and by segmenting the padding one’s movement is not restricted. The separated segments allow the pad to wrap around the leg and minimises interference with the bat or gloves.
Craig Kieswetter’s Puma pads wrap around his lower leg - Getty Images
In some of the earliest photographs of people playing cricket, pads can be seen. Clearly it struck our cricketing ancestors that a leather ball hurtling towards some unprotected legs would smart, so they were quick to fashion some protection:
Cricketers from Blue Gum Flat – or Ourimbah as it is now called, New South Wales. From left – Edward Hawkins, Robert Izzard, John Robley, James Buscombe. This photograph is from some time before the First World War.
Michael Clarke, the current Australian captain did this photo-shoot, where you can see these old style cricket pads in better detail:
Michael Clarke modelling his predecessor’s gear at the SCG
So what is the future of cricket pads? Will it be as futuristic as the future of cricket helmets? Well if the basic style hasn’t changed for over a hundred years, I do not think we will see any major developments. There have been some forays into innovative designs, such as these Aero pads:
Aero’s attempt at breaking the mould - Getty Images
Or to put them in their usual context:
I do fear that if Chris Martin is the face of a campaign to get people buying cricket pads, you might not necessarily have a great deal of trade. The biggest modification of cricket pad design has been the move from buckle straps to velcro, so I fear there will not be any major development in pad fashion in the near future.
This is the second part in my series looking at the history of cricket equipment and how it has changed over the years. The first piece, published last week, focused on the interesting history of helmets. This week I’m looking at another essential piece of gear – a cricketers pads. Often overlooked in the fashion stakes, these tend to take the most punishment, so they need to be durable and trustworthy, but also mobile and light.
The style and design of cricket pads has remained largely unchanged for over a hundred years, as CB Fry here shows. The only major change has been the striking move from buckle straps to velcro straps. Something that did not shake the cricket world.
CB Fry in his batting stance, some point between 1909 and 1921
However, what has changed is the material used to make batting pads. Traditional pads were made from cotton, foam and cane rods to create the piping which wraps around the leg. As such, they were heavy and cumbersome – not the most mobile of kit.
Modern pads are much lighter and practical, whilst retaining the protection of the old fashioned pads. They are made from ultra-light materials such as PVC – and by segmenting the padding one’s movement is not restricted. The separated segments allow the pad to wrap around the leg and minimises interference with the bat or gloves.
Craig Kieswetter’s Puma pads wrap around his lower leg - Getty Images
In some of the earliest photographs of people playing cricket, pads can be seen. Clearly it struck our cricketing ancestors that a leather ball hurtling towards some unprotected legs would smart, so they were quick to fashion some protection:
Cricketers from Blue Gum Flat – or Ourimbah as it is now called, New South Wales. From left – Edward Hawkins, Robert Izzard, John Robley, James Buscombe. This photograph is from some time before the First World War.
Michael Clarke, the current Australian captain did this photo-shoot, where you can see these old style cricket pads in better detail:
Michael Clarke modelling his predecessor’s gear at the SCG
So what is the future of cricket pads? Will it be as futuristic as the future of cricket helmets? Well if the basic style hasn’t changed for over a hundred years, I do not think we will see any major developments. There have been some forays into innovative designs, such as these Aero pads:
Aero’s attempt at breaking the mould - Getty Images
Or to put them in their usual context:
I do fear that if Chris Martin is the face of a campaign to get people buying cricket pads, you might not necessarily have a great deal of trade. The biggest modification of cricket pad design has been the move from buckle straps to velcro, so I fear there will not be any major development in pad fashion in the near future.
