Size and fit | Sportycus

Every chart below is a starting point. A tape measure settles more arguments than a size label does, so measure first and read the label second. Where a brand's own chart disagrees with what we found on the shelf, we have written down what we found on the shelf.

CRICKET BATS

Bat size follows height, not age. A tall thirteen year old goes into a short handle and a short adult goes into a Harrow, and neither of them should be talked out of it. Measure barefoot against a wall, then add 2 cm for the batting shoes, because that is the height you actually bat at.

Size 4: 130 to 137 cm (4 ft 3 in to 4 ft 6 in)
Size 5: 137 to 145 cm (4 ft 6 in to 4 ft 9 in)
Size 6: 145 to 150 cm (4 ft 9 in to 4 ft 11 in)
Harrow: 150 to 160 cm (4 ft 11 in to 5 ft 3 in)
Academy, or small adult short handle: 160 to 168 cm (5 ft 3 in to 5 ft 6 in)
Short handle: 168 to 185 cm (5 ft 6 in to 6 ft 1 in)
Long handle: 185 cm and above (6 ft 1 in and above)

Long handle and long blade are not the same thing. A long handle adds about 25 mm to the handle and suits a tall player who stands upright. A long blade keeps the standard handle and adds the length lower down, which suits a tall player who plays off the back foot and wants the middle to sit higher. If you are 188 cm and unsure, send us your height and how you stand on WhatsApp and we will tell you which one we would pick.

Weight, in pounds and ounces

The weight stamped on the toe is the weight of the bare bat. What you swing in the middle is heavier. An anti-scuff sheet is 25 to 30 g, a toe guard is 10 to 15 g, a second grip is 20 to 25 g. That is up to 70 g, near enough two and a half ounces, added after the scale. Order two ounces under the weight you want to end up with.

Sizes 4 to 6: 1 lb 12 oz to 2 lb 4 oz.
Harrow: 2 lb 4 oz to 2 lb 7 oz.
Short handle, club and school cricket: 2 lb 7 oz to 2 lb 11 oz.
Above 2 lb 12 oz: only if you hit straight and hit late. It is not a power setting.

Pick-up matters more than the scale. Two bats at 2 lb 9 oz can feel a full ounce apart if one has more wood in the shoulders. Hold the bat at the top of the handle in one hand and lift it to shoulder height ten times. If the bottom hand starts taking over by the sixth lift, the bat is heavy for you, whatever the number says.

Willow takes on moisture here. A bat left inside a sealed polythene cover through a Dhaka monsoon can gain close to an ounce and swell at the toe. Store it with the cover off, face out, away from a wall that gets wet.

BATTING GLOVES AND PADS

Gloves

Measure from the crease at the wrist to the tip of the middle finger on your bottom hand, which is usually the larger of the two.

Boys: up to 16.5 cm.
Youth: 16.5 to 18 cm.
Small adult: 18 to 19.5 cm.
Adult: 19.5 to 21 cm.
Adult XL: above 21 cm.

There should be 5 to 8 mm of empty space past the fingertip. Less than that and the finger sits on the seam, which is where a bruise from a lifting ball ends up. More than 10 mm and the sausage rolls stop lining up with your knuckles, which defeats the point of them. Sizes here are almost always cut for a right-hand batter unless the pair is marked LH, so check before you pay.

Pads

Stand in your batting shoes and measure from the centre of the kneecap down to the top of the foot, where the instep of the pad will begin.

Youth: 32 to 36 cm.
Small adult: 36 to 40 cm.
Adult: 40 to 44 cm.
Adult XL or tall: above 44 cm.

Get into your stance with the pads on. The top of the knee roll should sit above the kneecap when the front knee is bent, not below it. If the instep rides up onto the laces you are a size long, and you will trip on the second run. A pad that is one size too big is more dangerous than one that is one size too small, because it moves.

FOOTBALL BOOTS

Imported boots run small here for two reasons, and only one of them is length. The lasts are built narrow across the ball of the foot, and a broad forefoot in a narrow last feels short, so people buy a size up and end up with a boot that slides at the heel. Fix the width problem by changing the model, not by changing the number.

Measure the foot on paper. Heel to the wall, weight on the foot, mark the longest toe, which is not always the big toe. Add 5 to 8 mm. That is the length you need inside the boot.

The centimetre figure on the size label is the only number that means the same thing in every brand.

One box says US, the next says UK, the next says EU, and half of them are wrong by a half size. The CM or JP figure printed on the same label is the foot length the boot was built around. Read that one. A 26.5 CM boot is a 265 mm foot, in any brand, in any country.

Narrow lasts: Nike Mercurial and Vapor, adidas X. If your foot is wide across the ball, these will not stop hurting.
Wider lasts: Nike Tiempo and Phantom, adidas Copa, Puma King, Mizuno Morelia, Joma and Kelme.
Leather uppers give about 3 to 4 mm across the forefoot in the first two weeks. Buy them snug. Knit and one-piece synthetic uppers give nothing. Buy those at the length you measured.
A thick sock is worth about a third of a size. Measure in the socks you actually play in.
Feet swell through the day and swell more in June. Try boots after 4 pm. If you are between sizes in the hot months, take the larger one.

Sizes below UK 6 in most imported ranges are junior lasts, which are cut wider and shallower than the adult version of the same model. A small adult foot is often happier in the junior boot, and it costs less.

GOALKEEPER GLOVES

Goalkeeper gloves are sized 4 to 11, and shops that ask for your shoe size are guessing. Measure the circumference of your palm at the widest point, just below the knuckles, with the thumb left out. Take that figure in inches and add 1. A 7 inch palm is a size 8. Sizes 4 to 7 are junior, 8 to 11 are senior.

Nothing about a keeper's hand is predicted by the size of his foot.

Check the length as well. You want about 1 cm of space past the middle fingertip. Too long is worse than too short, because the latex at the end of an empty finger has nothing behind it, and a ball that hits it folds the finger back instead of stopping.

A roll finger fits about half a size larger than a negative cut in the same model. If you are moving between the two cuts, expect to move a half size with it.
Finger-save spines take up length inside the finger. Between sizes in a spined glove, go up.
Latex in Dhaka: keep the palms slightly damp, wash the sweat out after a session, and dry them in shade. Sun and a fan will harden a good palm in a week.

BADMINTON GRIP SIZES

In the Yonex system the smaller number is the bigger grip. G4 is 3.5 inches around, G5 is 3.25, G6 is 3. Almost everything sold in this market is G5, with some G4 in the heavier frames. Li-Ning marks the same idea as S1 and S2, and Victor's letters do not match Yonex's millimetre for millimetre, so treat the letter as a rough position and check the handle in your hand.

The test takes five seconds. Hold the racket in a handshake grip. The index finger of your other hand should slide into the gap between your fingertips and the base of your thumb, with light contact. No gap means the grip is too big and your wrist will not release. A loose finger's worth of gap means it is too small and you will squeeze to hold on, which is where the forearm ache comes from.

Buy small and build up. A standard overgrip is about 0.6 mm thick, which adds roughly 4 mm of circumference, so two overgrips move you close to one full grip size. A towel grip is worth about a full size on its own, and soaks up what June does to your hand, at the cost of being replaced every few weeks. You cannot make a G4 smaller.

KIT AND APPAREL

An imported M is not a local M, and the letters are not lying, they are just answering a different question. A European market replica shirt in M is cut for a 96 to 102 cm chest and runs 5 to 7 cm longer in the body. Club kit stitched here in M is cut for a 91 to 96 cm chest and a shorter body. Same letter, one full size apart.

Measure around the fullest part of the chest, under the arms, with the tape level and a normal breath in. Then use the measurement, not the letter.

86 to 91 cm (34 to 36 in): Imported S, locally made M
91 to 97 cm (36 to 38 in): Imported M, locally made L
97 to 102 cm (38 to 40 in): Imported L, locally made XL
102 to 107 cm (40 to 42 in): Imported XL, locally made XXL
107 to 112 cm (42 to 44 in): Imported XXL, locally made 3XL where the run includes it

Player issue and authentic cuts run 6 to 8 cm narrower in the chest than the fan or stadium version of the same shirt in the same size. They are cut to be worn tight.
Shirts marked Asian fit or made for this region are already adjusted. Take your normal letter in those.
Compression base layers should be your true size. Going a size down does not add support, it restricts the shoulder.
Cricket trousers and most training shorts are sized by waist in inches. Measure the waist, do not convert from a letter.
Polyester shirts hold their shape. Cotton training tees lose 3 to 4 percent in the first wash, which is about a centimetre and a half across the chest.

WHAT TO MEASURE BEFORE YOU ORDER

Six numbers cover almost everything on this page. Write them in your phone once and you will not need this page again.

Height, barefoot, against a wall.
Chest circumference, level, under the arms.
Waist circumference at the trouser line.
Foot length in millimetres, heel to longest toe.
Palm circumference below the knuckles.
Wrist crease to middle fingertip.

GETTING IT RIGHT WITHOUT A FITTING ROOM

Take the six numbers above with a tape and a wall, not from memory. Send them on WhatsApp to 01518 990333 with the product you are looking at and we will tell you which size we would send, from the stock in our Dhaka stockroom rather than the brand's global chart. For a bat, tell us your height and what you weigh your current bat at, and we will pick three in your weight band and send the one with the best pick-up.

We deliver to all 64 districts, free inside Dhaka over ৳3,000. Sizes can be exchanged within 7 days, unworn and with the tags on, so if the boot is a half size out, send it back and tell us the CM number you measured.