A cricket set is a starting point, not a finished kit. This page shows what a junior cricket set or kids cricket set normally contains, what it quietly leaves out, and when building your own is the better call for a child, an adult beginner, a school or a club.
Search for a cricket set in Ireland and you get three completely different things sold under one word. A plastic bat and ball for the garden. A soft ball starter kit for a nine year old. A full leather bag with pads, gloves and a helmet for club cricket.
All three are called sets. Only one of them will suit the person you are buying for, and the product listings usually will not tell you which.
The way to sort it is to work backwards from where the cricket is happening. Garden and beach, school PE, junior club training and adult hard ball cricket need different things, and the item that separates them is almost always protective gear rather than the bat.
This page compares those routes honestly, including where a boxed set is genuinely the sensible option. It does not quote prices or claim stock. Use the builder, note what is missing, then send the list.
Work out which one you are actually looking at before comparing anything on contents or price.
A light bat, a soft or plastic ball and a set of plastic stumps, often with a spring base. Built for fun rather than for cricket that keeps score.
A usable bat, soft or tennis balls and portable stumps, sized for group play. This is what most PE classes, after school clubs and community sessions actually need for a kids cricket set.
A junior bat, pads, gloves and a bag, sometimes with a helmet. The step into real club cricket, and the point at which sizing stops being optional for a junior cricket set.
A senior bat, pads, gloves and a wheelie or duffel bag. Aimed at adult beginners and returning players joining a club side.
Tell it who the set is for and where the cricket happens. It returns what a typical boxed set covers, what it usually leaves out and what to send for pricing.
This is a planning aid based on what boxed cricket sets commonly include. It is not a product list, a price or a safety assessment. Always check the actual contents and sizing of any specific set, and follow your club or school guidance on protective equipment.
Neither route is always right. The deciding factor is how committed the player is and how many people you are buying for.
| Situation | Boxed set | Build your own |
|---|---|---|
| Trying cricket for the first time | Usually the better call. Low commitment and everything arrives together. | Overkill until you know the interest lasts past week three. |
| Child moving into junior club cricket | Workable if the bat size and pad size genuinely fit the child. | Better when the child is between sizes or already has some gear. |
| Adult joining a club side | Reasonable starting point, but expect to replace gloves and add shoes. | Usually better. Adult fit varies more and bat weight matters. |
| School PE for a class | Poor value. You do not need a bat per pupil, you need balls and stumps. | Better. Build a shared pack sized to how many groups run at once. |
| Club buying for a junior section | Rarely right. Sets duplicate items the club already owns. | Better. Order by what runs out and what needs sizing. |
| Gift with no sizing information | Sensible, provided the bat can be sized by the child's height. | Harder without knowing height, hand and playing level. |
| Replacing one worn item | Wasteful. You pay for a bag and stumps you already have. | Better. Price the single item and keep the rest. |
Most disappointment with cricket sets comes from three checks that take two minutes each.
A set enquiry gets a useful answer fast when it arrives with the sizing detail already included.
A set is the entry question. These pages carry the detail once you know which route fits.
Send who it is for, their height or age group, the ball type in use, how many people it covers, the delivery location and the date you need it. Questions or options come back once costs have been checked.
Short answers for parents, players, schools and clubs buying a set in Ireland.
A boxed cricket set normally includes a bat, one or two balls, a set of stumps with bails and a carry bag. Larger sets may add batting pads, gloves and sometimes a lightweight helmet. Protective items in cheaper sets are often sized for a general age band rather than a specific player, so check the sizing before assuming a set is ready to use in club cricket.
For garden, park, school PE and social cricket a boxed set is usually fine, because the bat and stumps only need to work well enough for soft ball or tennis ball play. For hard ball club cricket the limiting factor is protective gear and bat size, so most players end up replacing the pads, gloves and bat within a season while keeping the stumps and bag.
The items most often missing are an abdominal guard, thigh pad, inner gloves, a helmet that fits, cricket shoes, spare balls and a bat grip or knocking in. These are the items that decide whether a player can take part in hard ball training, so they matter more than the headline contents list.
Size a junior cricket set or kids cricket set by the child's height rather than their age, because children of the same age vary a lot. Bat size is the part of a junior cricket set that most often does not fit, and an oversized bat is harder to use than a slightly small one. The junior gear guide has a height led bat sizing starting point and a control check.
A set is usually cheaper up front for casual or entry level play. Buying separately tends to work out better when the player is committed to hard ball cricket, when sizing is unusual, or when a club or school is buying for several people at once and can order matching quantities of the items that are actually used.
Group buyers rarely want identical boxed sets, because a group needs many balls and stumps but only a few bat sizes and shared protective items. Building a shared pack around session size normally uses the budget better than buying one boxed set per participant.
Yes. Send who the set is for, the player height or age group, whether play is soft ball or hard ball, how many people it needs to cover, the delivery location and when it is needed. Shipping, VAT, duty and related fees are checked for the destination before options are sent back. No payment details are collected through the website form.
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