What Cricket Equipment Your Child Actually Needs to Start
Before you buy anything, ask the academy or coach one question: what does my child need to bring, and what does the program provide?
That single question can save a considerable amount. Some youth programs supply or loan equipment for beginners — one Massachusetts program includes a bat with registration, and a California academy states equipment is provided at its camp. Others expect families to arrive with a full kit.
Requirements also depend on what your child will be doing. A beginner session with a soft ball needs almost nothing. Hard-ball cricket needs proper protection from the first session.
SAFETY NOTE
This guide provides general educational information only and is not individualized safety, medical, or coaching advice. Equipment requirements vary by age, program, format, skill level, and the type of ball being used. Before your child participates or uses cricket equipment—particularly for hard/leather-ball cricket—confirm the appropriate equipment and safety requirements with the child’s coach or program and follow applicable manufacturer instructions. Participation in cricket involves a risk of injury.
What a beginner may need for the first session
Most introductory sessions use soft or tennis balls, and many programs provide the bats. In that case your child usually needs comfortable athletic clothing, sneakers and a water bottle.
Ask before you shop. Buying a bat before you know your child’s size, the ball type, and whether the program supplies gear is how families end up with equipment that gets used twice.
Choosing a cricket bat
Bats come in numbered junior sizes running roughly 0 to 6, then Harrow, then adult sizes. Sizing is based on the player’s height rather than age.
Published size charts are manufacturer guidelines, not an official standard, and they disagree with one another. One retailer lists Size 6 as 5’2″–5’5″; another as 5’1″–5’4″; a third as 5’3″–5’5″. The ranges shift by an inch or two depending on who is publishing, and no governing body publishes a children’s bat-sizing standard.
The practical test used across those sources: stand the bat upright beside your child in their cricket shoes — the top of the handle should reach around the top of the thigh. More importantly, your child should be able to lift and swing it comfortably.
A bat that is too heavy is a bigger problem than one slightly too short. It changes technique, and that takes time to unlearn.
Children grow. Many move up a size roughly every year, which is a good reason not to spend heavily on a first bat.
Understanding ball types
Terminology varies between programs, but three broad categories come up.
Soft or training balls. Used for beginners and younger age groups. Minimal protective equipment needed.
Tennis or tape ball. A tennis ball, sometimes wrapped in tape. Common in informal play and in some US beginner programs.
Hard or leather ball. The traditional cricket ball. This is the point at which protective equipment becomes essential. Junior balls are lighter than senior ones, commonly 4¾ oz against 5½ oz.
Programs describe this progression differently — some use “softball” and “hardball”, others “Primary” and “Intermediate”, others tennis-ball and leather-ball. Ask which your child will be using.
Protective equipment for hard-ball cricket
Once a child is facing a hard ball, protection stops being optional.
An important note on where these rules apply. The clearest published guidance comes from the England and Wales Cricket Board. It does not apply in the United States, and we found no equivalent American mandate. It is included here because it is the most detailed guidance available and many coaches follow similar practice. Always ask your own program what it requires.
The ECB guidance for players under 18 states that a helmet with a faceguard or grille should be worn when batting against a hard ball in matches and in practice, and that young wicketkeepers should wear a helmet with a faceguard, or a face protector, when standing up to the stumps. It treats a helmet as normal batting equipment alongside pads, gloves and, for boys, an abdominal protector. Under that guidance, written parental consent allowing a young player to bat without a helmet is not accepted in any form of cricket.
Cricket helmets are covered by a British Standard, BS7928:2013; wicketkeeper face protectors by BS7928-2:2009. The ECB recommends that junior players use helmets tested against junior-sized balls, since a helmet certified only for a senior ball may not have been tested for the lighter junior one. If you are buying a helmet, it is worth checking which standard it meets and whether it was tested for junior balls.
Fit matters as much as the standard. A helmet that moves when your child shakes their head is not doing its job.
Clothing and footwear
Youth programs in the US are generally relaxed about clothing for training. Athletic wear is fine.
Specialist cricket shoes — with spikes for grass or flat soles for indoor surfaces — become useful once a child is playing regularly, but sneakers are usually acceptable at the start. Indoor programs may require non-marking soles, so ask.
What academies may provide
Practice varies. Among programs in our directory, some state that equipment is supplied for camps or introductory sessions, and at least one includes a bat with registration. Others assume families bring their own.
These are individual examples, not a national pattern. The only reliable way to know is to ask.
Beginner equipment checklist
A general guide. Your program’s requirements take precedence.
| Item | First session? | When needed | Ask the program? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Athletic clothing | Yes | Immediately | No |
| Sneakers | Yes | Immediately | Indoor sole rules |
| Water bottle | Yes | Immediately | No |
| Bat | Often not | Once committed, sized to height | Yes — may be provided |
| Soft or training ball | Usually not | Programs generally supply | Yes |
| Helmet with faceguard | Not for soft-ball | Before facing a hard ball | Yes |
| Batting pads | Not for soft-ball | With hard-ball cricket | Yes |
| Batting gloves | Not for soft-ball | With hard-ball cricket | Yes |
| Abdominal protector | Not for soft-ball | With hard-ball cricket (boys) | Yes |
| Cricket shoes | No | Once playing regularly | Surface type |
| Kit bag | No | Once gear accumulates | No |
What not to buy immediately
A complete kit before the first session. You do not yet know your child’s bat size, whether they will be using a hard ball this season, what the program supplies, or whether your child will take to the game.
An expensive bat for a beginner. Children outgrow bats roughly yearly.
A helmet chosen on size alone, without checking the standard it meets or whether it fits properly.
Adult equipment to grow into. An oversized bat or a loose helmet is worse than none — both change how a child plays, and neither protects properly.
Questions to ask before buying equipment
✓What does the program provide, and what should we bring?
✓Will my child be using a soft ball, a tennis ball, or a hard ball this season?
✓If hard ball, what protective equipment is required — and is it required in practice as well as matches?
✓What helmet standard do you expect?
✓What bat size do you recommend for my child’s height?
✓Are there footwear requirements for your surface?
✓Is there a trial session before we commit to buying anything?
Find youth cricket coaching near you
Our directory of youth cricket programs by state lists what each program publishes, with a link to its own site so you can check requirements directly.
If you are still working out which group your child fits into, our guide to youth cricket age groups in the USA explains how divisions differ between programs.
For everything else about starting out, see our guide to getting your child started in cricket.
Sources. Helmet and protective-equipment guidance: ECB safety guidance for young players, and the British Standards BS7928:2013 and BS7928-2:2009. Bat sizing: multiple independent manufacturer and retailer guides, which differ from one another; no governing body publishes a children’s sizing standard. Program-specific examples: each program’s own published information.
USA Youth Cricket is an independent resource. We are not a governing body, we are not affiliated with any program, league or manufacturer, and we do not recommend or sell products.
Last updated: September 2026