Do Cricketers Wear Cricket Inner Gloves?

If you have ever played cricket, you know that after some time, the sport can be taxing for your hands, your palm and your fingers, and that is why the players wear cricket gloves.

Inners simply add another cushioning layer between the hand of the cricket player and the cricket ball. They could have many benefits, so it is smart to consider using a pair of these gloves.

Do Cricketers Wear Inner Gloves?

In short, yes. Cricketers can wear inner gloves, but these are not compulsory. Many cricket players find it useful to wear them and others don’t. There are benefits to wearing a pair such as soaking up sweat, improving batting grip, bringing an extra level of comfort, or adding an extra layer of comfort to the hands.

What are Inner Gloves in Cricket?

These cricket gear products are quite simply a thin, cotton pair of gloves worn under a pair of batting or wicket keeping gloves. There are slight differences between the two products which are discussed below.

What do Batting Inners Do?

The following section of this guide explains the benefits of batting inner gloves.

Inners Help to Soak Up Sweat from the Hands

There are a number of genuine benefits to using your batting inners. Batting inners are great for absorbing sweat away from the batters’ hands. This is not only hygienic but also helps to preserve the condition of the actual batting gloves. This means the outter gloves need to be replaced less frequently. The inners will need replacing but they can be cleaned in a washing machine unlike batting gloves.

Having Several Inners At Hand

Having and using several inners at your disposal also helps to switch between your gloves, increasing hand hygiene, improving the smell of gloves, and your overall experience of using your cricket gloves and playing cricket.

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Having Good Inners Improves the Batting Grip

Some batters like to wear inners to improve their grip on the bat handle. A better grip gives better control of the bat. In fact, some batters only wear one inner on their bottom hand to encourage a stronger top handed grip! Stronger grip on for the top hand helps the bat come through in a straight line which is a good benefit of wearing batting inners. Having an exceptional fit will only improve your comfort and your grip.

Bring Comfort to Your Hands

There is also the benefit of comfort to your hands whilst batting. The palms of cricket gloves can wear away with prolonged use. This will usually happen over the course of a cricket season due to the leather being in contact with the rubber grip on the bat handle. A pair of inners will make sure your hand doesn’t get damaged if holes appear in the batting gloves.

Cricket Players Should Consider Glove Size When They Are Using Inners

When you buy such products, it is worth considering the size of batting glove that you purchase if you intend on using batting inners. It is worth buying a larger size to accommodate an extra layer being worn. Thin as the inners are, you will notice them when you put on batting gloves over the top. Also, some inners have a Velcro strap to get fastened when wearing them. This goes under the wrist strap of the gloves so consider this when buying batting gloves of batting inners.

What about Wicketkeepers’ Inner Gloves?

Whilst some batters don’t use an inner glove, almost all wicketkeepers wear inners. These absorb sweat like batting inners do but they also offer an extra layer of protection too. Wicketkeeping inners are different to batting ones as they are thicker and have padded palms.

Wicketkeepers Need the Extra Padding of Inner Gloves

A wicketkeeper is expected to catch the ball after almost every delivery. The added layer of padding is in addition to the padding on the actual wicketkeeping glove. Wicket keeping gloves tend to be slightly oversized to allow for inners to be worn under them.

Like batting inners, a wicket keepers’ inner gloves also offer more comfort and control. The difference here is that the control is over catching a ball rather than holding a bat. Getting a better ‘feel’ for the ball is vital to a wicketkeeper as every delivery is a potential wicket taking opportunity.

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For run out scenarios, wicket keepers often remove the glove from their throwing hand before the ball is thrown to them by a fielder. This is so that they can throw the ball quickly and accurately to the other end of the wicket for a run out. The padding on the palm of the inners is crucial here as the ball is often thrown flat and hard to the surface of them.

Yes, fielders can have the cricket ball thrown to them as well but more often than not it is the keeper who receives a throw. Also, a fielder can be replaced by a substitute, but it might become difficult to replace an injured wicket keeper with it being a specialist.

Final Thoughts About Wearing Inners

Inners are sold at the regular price of cricket gear, but there are more cheaper and expensive versions available. Inner cricket gloves are more important to wicket keepers compared to batters as they offer another layer of protection which is needed. Batters like to use them as they keep their batting gloves dry and remove sweat in a hygienic way.

They also have the benefit of the way they grip the bat which improves performance. They are not a requirement as a piece of kit. Gray Nicolls for example produces and sells great inners at a regular price, and we may strongly recommend their brand.

Hope our guide was helpful to you. Find and choose your inners today!