Cricket Gifts

Not having played cricket, attended a match, or debated the best cricket player to ever set foot on Lord's Cricket Ground, I am uniquely qualified to suggest some great gifts for fans of this internationally popular game. It appears to be a contest somewhat similar to American Baseball: players attempt to hit a ball with a bat, then run around a little bit. I'm sure it's very much fun.

These gifts are guaranteed to make any cricket fan happy to be a cricket fan. Sometimes sports fans can be very hard to shop for. This isn't a problem for me, given that I precious little knowledge of how the game is actually played. A cricket T-shirt might be the coolest thing to ever end up on a gift list, or not. A used cricket bat just might possibly represent the epitome of gift-giving technology, or it might end being a dangerous hunk of splintered wood.

Read on to discover the world of highly desirable cricket gift-giving ideas.

There's a Cricket World Cup? Who knew?

This book offers copious amounts of Cricket World Cup trivia, details, stories, factoids, and other things that fit into a book. There's a famous cricketeer on the cover, grasping what I assume is the Cricket World Cup trophy. His huge smile indicates that his team may have just won the trophy. Perhaps he is thinking of how he will look on the cover of the Wisden History of the Cricket World Cup.

This book would look great on a coffee table or tucked into a library of cricket books. Fans of the sport will spend hours reliving famous matches throughout the history of cricket world cup competition. I don't know who won The Cup, but surely every match was exciting and worthy of being memorialized in a big book.

Cricket bats are made of wood and this cricket puzzle is also made of wood. Perhaps the puzzle contains some recycled wood that was once part of a World Cup winning bat. If there are other parts of cricket equipment that are made of wood, perhaps this puzzle shares a few bits of those as well.

If cricket (the game, not the insect) fans are as zealous as golf fans, then even a wooden model of a cricket (the insect, not the game) would be a fun and interesting gift. We all know, of course, that golf aficionados covet anything with a golf logo, shape, legend, reference, tattoo, or nuance. Cricket fans are probably of a similar bent. Based on this assumption, I assume that a wooden cricket (the insect, not the game) would be a fantastic gift for cricket maniacs.

Cricket jewelry is a logical progression, given that a cricket bat is probably too large to actually wear on a necklace or carry on to a commercial airliner. This adorable bracelet includes an image of a cricket batter hitting a ball. It's made of stainless steel, which is macho enough for hard-core cricket players while retaining enough elegance to wear to a Cricket World Cup match.

The manly male cricket fans on your gift list will love this Italian-made bracelet. Pugster is an Italian company specializing in fashion jewelry and Italian-style charms. They offer a wide range of charms featuring animals, stylish beadwork, and popular iconic images.

This dart game comes highly recommended by me because I know even less about dart games than I do about cricket. Herein we are combining two activities that are almost completely foreign to me into one thoughtful gift. This particular dart game has a computer built into it. I do know something about computers. The manufacturer claims that the computer has a voice. The voice calls out important stuff about the game as it's being played. As someone who is somewhat knowledgeable about computers, I can verify that this is extremely possible.

So, this game hangs on the wall and you throw darts at it. It's evidently played indoors because there's usually more places to hang stuff that you can throw darts at. I assume that if the cricket match is rained out, you can go inside and play cricket darts. That makes sense.

This attractive set of cufflinks is made up to look like a cricket bat and ball. The bat and ball are much smaller than actual size: even I know that.

Use your cricket cufflinks to hold your sleeves closed at the bottom of your arms. A cufflink provides a stylish accent to a fancy cricket shirt for that young executive who works for a cricket company or works with a group of people who are impressed by cricket jewelry.

I don't think that these cufflinks actually fit onto a real cricket uniform because most active sports do not require formal dress, except to attend the World Cup banquet and receive trophies. Your favorite cricket fan would appreciate these well-made and stylish pieces for any dress-up occasion.

Put your face on a regulation-size cricket ball shaped photo holder and give it to your favorite cricket fan. They will put it on their desk at work or perhaps on their fireplace mantle. Rest assured they will not take outside and play real cricket with it. Any knowledgeable cricket fan will quickly realize that this is not an actual cricket ball. Seeing your smiling face coming from inside the ball will be a huge clue as to the intended application of the gift.

When you order the ball, you get to personalize it with a photo and a special message. This is a great gift for cricket fans.

This hub is dedicated to my friend RyanKett, who forgets more about cricket (the game, not the insect) before his morning tea than I ever knew.