Wicket-keeper's gloves are large

glove A glove is a garment covering the hand. Gloves usually have separate sheaths or openings for each finger and the thumb. If there is an opening but no (or a short) covering sheath for each finger they are called fingerless gloves. Fingerless glov ...

s used in

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and worn by the

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

of the fielding team, which protect the hands of the wicket-keeper when catching balls bowled by the bowler, hit by a batter or thrown by a fielder.

Construction

Wicket-keeper's gloves have an anterior surface designed for catching the ball, while offering protection to fingers and the palms of the hands from painful impact. Typically, the catching surface is made of rubber and has some traction-enhancing features, such as pimples. The catching surface is coloured yellow in the image shown above. Soft padding material is placed underneath the catching surface to reduce the impact of the ball. A protective padded cuff covering the wrist area is also present on the anterior surface, but this is typically leather-encased and does not offer a catching surface. This is the green, semi-circular piece on the glove to the right in the picture above. The posterior of the glove, which is not intended for contact with the ball, is made of leather and appears as the green backing of the glove on the left side in the picture shown. Inside the glove, rubber thimbles are used to protect fingertip from injury due to impact from the ball.

Legal specifications

Wicket keeping gloves along with the inner gloves

Law 40.2, which deals with the specifications for wicketkeepers' gloves, states that: If,.... the wicket-keeper wears gloves, they shall have no webbing between the fingers except joining index finger and thumb, where webbing may be inserted as a means of support. If used, the webbing shall be: (a) a single piece of non-stretch material which, although it may have facing material attached, shall have no reinforcements or tucks. (b) such that the top edge of the webbing- (i) does not protrude beyond the straight line joining the top of the index finger to the top of the thumb. (ii) is taut when a hand wearing the glove has the thumb fully extended.

Incidents and anecdotes

In 2008,

Mahendra Singh Dhoni Mahendra Singh Dhoni (; born 7 July 1981) is an Indian former international cricketer who was captain of the Indian national cricket team in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2017 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014. He is also the curren ...

was instructed by the match referee in an Australia-India game at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and as ...

to change his wicket-keeping gloves, which were deemed to be in violation of Law 40.2. Wicket-keepers have been known to have a special bond with their equipment.

Alan Knott Alan Philip Eric Knott (born 9 April 1946) is a former cricketer who represented England at international level in both Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI). Knott is widely regarded as one of the most eccentric characters in cricket and as o ...

, the legendary England wicket-keeper, is known to have worn his gloves in the evening at home to keep them supple. Jack Russell, yet another notable English keeper, allegedly slept with his gloves underneath his pillow. Knott is also known to have reinforced the protection offered by his gloves by taping pieces of

plasticine Plasticine is a putty-like modelling material made from calcium salts, petroleum jelly and aliphatic acids. Though originally a brand name for the British version of the product, it is now applied generically in English as a product categor ...

to his inner gloves. There are known incidences of some wicket-keepers that used to insert beef steaks inside their gloves for added padding.

Major glove manufacturers

Gray-Nicolls Gray-Nicolls is an English cricket equipment and clothing brand and is a subsidiary of Grays International. Formed as a result of merger between two companies, Grays and Nicolls, the company is based in Robertsbridge, East Sussex. Gray-Nicolls ma ...

Kookaburra Sport Kookaburra is an Australian sports equipment company, specialising in Australian rules football, cricket, and field hockey equipment, named after the Australian kingfisher. The company notably manufactures the most widely used brand of ball u ...

Slazenger Slazenger () is a British sports equipment brand owned by the Frasers Group (formerly Sports Direct). The company was established as a sporting goods shop in 1881 by Ralph and Albert Slazenger on London's Cannon Street.J. R. Lowerson, 'Slazenge ...

Sanspareils Greenlands Sanspareils Greenlands, commonly known by the abbreviation SG, is an Indian cricket equipment manufacturer. Its balls are used in Test cricket and in the Ranji Trophy in India. They have a more prominent seam and are closer together than the Ko ...

References

External links