All About Cricket Nets

All over the country, in cities and towns, in villages and in localities, there are ample cricket academies that teach young students how to play cricket and get better at the game. Children also love to learn this sport and try their best to perform their best always.

In order to be perfect in a game, students of the game and sportspersons need to practice hard. In sports and in games, practice is all that counts. Practicing is extremely important and only with practice can one learn how to get better. Only with practice can one improve his or her game and learn newer things and get better at performances.

In cricket practice, a big role is played by the cricket nets. Cricket nets are very essential in places where students or sportspersons are practicing. In larger and more important places like national and international level stadiums, these nets are of world class quality and in places like smaller academies and coaching areas, the nets can be of lesser quality. However, cricket nets must always be of optimum quality as this defines the kind of practice sessions that students and sportsmen are going to have in the nets. Professional cricket fields can have as many as ten lanes of cricket nets. Also, nets are used not just outdoors but also in indoor practice areas. Indoor cricket nets are different from outdoor nets in several ways.

Indoor nets

Indoor nets are suspended by aluminium tracks. These tracks are in turn fixed to the ceiling of the sports halls or gymnasium or the practice areas where the nets are placed. These nets then travel down towards the floor to provide the area for practising to the sportspersons. Outdoor nets are generally black, as opposed to that indoor nets are usually white. They can have a separate canvas screen that is used to enclose the area that is immediately surrounding the batsman. This canvas screen can rise to a height of 3 to 5 meters. This helps the net stay stronger by avoiding a lot of hits to the net as they are taken care of by the canvas.

Outdoor nets

Outdoor nets are more common than indoor nets as indoor practice areas are uncommon and lesser to be found in India. The purpose of these is also the same, to provide an enclosed area where batting and bowling practice can be done and where the ball is contained. These can be customized according to some factors, like the area available and the age and kind of the ultimate user to use the nets. For example, nets that are used for students and little children have sized accordingly. There are variations in the design of outdoor nets such as a pulley and ratchet system where the net is mounted on a cable which spans posts located at either end of the practice net. 

There can be several features that are required in a cricket net. Some of these are as below:

1. Available as required: A good cricket net manufacturing company should be able to provide customized cricket nets as per the requirement of the client. Sometimes, cricket nets are required for clubs and for tournaments, so the nets should be customized and made to order for these very requirements. This way, customized nets for all learners can be provided and it will lead to better playing conditions for the players.
2. High Impact Resistance: It is needless to say that the cricket nets should have a high impact resistance. There are all kinds of players and there can be aggressive players who hit the nets with full force. There can also be incidents of high impacts taking place from close quarters. In such cases, the net must be able to resist these high impact hits and stay in shape and form.
3. Better UV stability: As outdoor nets in India are always subjected to strong sun rays and UV rays, it is important that the nets should be UV resistant. Also, this increases the longevity of the nets and makes them stay strong longer as they remain undamaged by the sun rays.
4. Durability: As is necessary, any product that is going to be used for a long time, needs to be durable. So, the cricket nets also must be very durable and long lasting. This will ensure that frequent repairs and replacements are not required and once installed the nets stay as they are for a long time.
5. Better knot stability and anti skewing: Having cricket nets that are technically sound is a great asset so these nets should be complete with anti skewing and better knot stability. These features make the nets better to use and give them long life. This also makes them usable and gives better results to the players and sportspersons.
6. Available in customized sizes: Nets can be required for different purposes and it is a must that the cricket nets are available in customized sizes and these should have the option of being customized as per the need of the client. For smaller clubs or gymnasiums, smaller sized nets are required and for places with large open fields, larger and different kind of cricket nets are required. For indoor nets the requirement is different and for outdoor nets the requirements are different.

 Finally, like all other cricket equipment, cricket nets are also an important part of cricket practice. So, it should be always remembered that the nets help the sports persons practice and make their game better. These sports persons then go ahead and win medals for the country and make a mark in the international grounds.