Cricket
If you know a cricket fan you know they take their cricket seriously. This is the first thing to know before you go looking for their present. Cricket isn’t a sport you pay half-hearted attention to. You can recite the scorecard, you can recall the history, you know exactly who should have been in the team for last summer’s Ashes and you have strong views about it that could get you through a whole Sunday afternoon. When somebody cares that much about something it changes what makes a good gift.
Our problem was that cricket presents aren’t great. Cushions, mugs, cakes that anyone would enjoy. Badly printed calendars, baseball hats with rabbits swinging bats on them. Gadgets that claim to serve a purpose, like a beer jug that doubles as a cricket bat. Stuff that is so indiscriminate you’d give it to anyone you know likes cricket. Stuff that fails if you know anyone who actually cares about cricket. We could do better than that. They deserve better than that.
They’re cricket fans because they love everything about it. Maybe they grew up listening to Test Match Special on family holidays spent crammed in the back of the car. Maybe they fell in love with the game spent standing around in the cold on rainy April mornings wondering why they were there. Whatever their story they’ve earned the right to be picky about their gear. If your uncle builds a cricket shelter in his garden he’s not going to fill it with stuff from some aesthetically-challenged gift aisle.
We looked for gift ideas that were specific. That show you’ve put thought into finding something for the particular person you’re buying for, not just scrolling through thousands of vaguely cricket related items. Gifts that if they appeared under your Christmas tree would make you think ‘wow they really know me’. A well-made book that helps you explore an era of the game you love. Genuine cricket equipment that actually is up to standard if you take up the sport at the weekend. Gifts that aren’t toys but instead sit proudly on your desk or mantlepiece as a welcome window into your interests for visitors. We kept questioning if someone who loved cricket would love this as much as you do or if they’d just nod and hang it on the fireplace.
There are lots of types of cricket fans. The 11 year old who is already carrying a bat like it’s their wooden Balkhan(ids). The county player who spends their life at the garden fence. The coach who knows every player’s batting average back to the 1950s but isn’t actually playing anymore. We tried to find gifts for all of them. Whatever stage you’re at in your cricket journey you should be able to find something that suits.
Cricket fandom is unique. It’s a culture of its own. When you’re looking for gifts for cricket fans only the best will do.