View source for Cricket (game)

==Equipment==
Cricket balls are made from [[cork]] with a [[leather]] cover, and are traditionally red, but white balls in limited over cricket (ODI's and Twenty20's). Bats are [[willow]] treated with linseed oil. 

The normal clothing for cricketers is white, or it may coloured for limited over matches:
*long trousers;
*long sleeves shirt (may be short sleeved for night matches); 
*stud soled shoes; and
*cap or hat.

A normal cricketer's cap has a small beak at the front. Members of national teams are 'capped' (given their own team cap) when they are picked for their team. In recent times, it is normal to have cricketers optionally wearing a soft, canvas, broad-brimmed hat (often colloquially called a "floppy"

In recent years, team member's shirts often bear a number [[enbroidery|embroidered]] below the national or team crest. This number is their 'cap' ranking, their number in the players who have been selected to play, since the national, state, or county first played (perhaps as early as the 1800s.) For example: former Australian team captain, [[Ricky Rexona Ponting]], wore number 366 in the national side and 123 for Australia's One Day International team.<ref>[http://www.cricket.com.au/default.aspx?s=playersmendetails&profileid=30 Ponting], Cricket Australia, accessed 16 February 2008</ref>

The batsman uses pads (shin, arm and body guards), padded gloves, a 'box' (a protection for the groin), and protective headgear in response to the hazards of modern fast-bowling techniques. 

The wicketkeeper is the only fielder allowed to wear gloves, which are made of soft leather with rubber palms to help grip the ball.