England's New Test and ODI kits 2012

It's time for everyone's occasional Short Midwicket feature - it's the return of The Shirt Midwicket! Hot on the heels of 2010's all inclusive kit review, with the news that adidas are bringing out two new England shirts comes the not-at-all-informed Short Midwicket kit review. So let's start of with:

The test shirt

Like most test shirts, it's white, and like most recent England test shirts, it has a bit of red trim on it. There isn't a great deal you can do with a plain white test shirt, but there is a tiny bit of red on the collar, which looks quite nice.

In terms of going out to buy it - I don't think anybody's going to notice if you turn up wearing last year's effort, seeing as the only difference that I could spot was a black adidas logo rather than a red one. And at £49.99, it probably isn't really worth the bother. Still a nice kit though - you can't go far wrong with a plain white shirt.


The ODI shirt

Hallelujah! Adidas have finally made an England kit that's actually blue! After four years of various shades of navy, England finally have a bright blue kit to strut about in. The kit itself looks very sharp, with a nice red trim going under the arms, white adidas stripes across the shoulders, and a few touches of red at the back too. The combination of blue, red and white really does work, and has led to a great kit!

For me, this is easily the best England kit since adidas took over in 2008. I'm not a massive fan of the zip-up collar which has been retained from last year's ODI kit, but all in all it's an absolute stormer. It doesn't come cheap, with prices going from £49.99 to £55 if you want it with long sleeves, but there will be plenty who'll think it's a worthwhile investment.



Both of these shirts are available to pre-order from the ECB store website now, and in shops from the 4th April - and again, if you're reading at adidas, it may well be worth you sending me a couple of shirts, just so I can continue testing them...

England's World Cup Kits - A History

After today's earlier blogs about the kit that's been unveiled (in the loosest sense of the word) for this upcoming 2011 Cricket World Cup, it's only right and proper that I look at the history of kits that have adorned the England players as they've failed miserably at previous World Cups. Due to these failures, most of the pictures that I've found are of England players looking rather glum as other teams celebrate. But that's all part of the fun of being an England fan!

1992

1992 was the first World Cup where the teams wore colours rather than whites, and the first kit England wore is an absolute retro classic. While it is an absolute belter (I love a good light blue England kit), points are lost due to a lack of originality - every team at that World Cup had exactly the same shirt just in different colours. But still, a kit that's probably improved over time due to the retro factor.


1996

While 1992 could be called "retro and nice", 1996 could be called "retro and not so nice". It's not a very nice shirt. It just isn't. And this picture of Neil Smith both sums up the shirt, and England's performance.

1999

The '99 World Cup was a bit of a debacle from England's perspective. But at least they looked nice doing it. It was the first World Cup where teams could wear whatever kit they wanted (within reason) and Asics' effort actually isn't too bad (considering the efforts put out by some of the other teams, and the fact that it was the nineties). Overall, not too shabby.


2003

England's 2003 kit again wasn't that bad. While compared to some of the other nations the shirt from Admiral was a little behind the fashion times, it was a respectable effort.


2007

Like 2003, England's shirt was pretty cool, but compared to the other countries was a little behind the times. Admittedly I do have a soft spot for this kit; I like the red arm and other little red bit on the other side. And I like how the collar has a red and white halved thing going on. I do like this one.


2011

And here's the 2011 effort. For some reason, it's black.



Overall England haven't done too badly in the World Cup kit stakes. There have been a few shockers from other countries, but other than the 1996 horror, England's shirts have been rather respectable, if nothing else. This current one from adidas certainly isn't for the traditionalists (it's black, for a start) but how will it be judged when I repeat this World Cup kit countdown in 2015? Only time will tell...

England's Cricket World Cup 2011 Shirt - Revealed!

UPDATE - at end of the post - 25/2/2011


Thanks to an anonymous tip off on my ranting moaning blog about the lack of England World Cup shirt information, I've found some exclusive pictures. Here they are.

And here's the shirt.

Textbook portrait work from Strauss

So there it is. And the obvious thing to note - it's colour. It's black. England's adidas kits started out quite a deep shade of blue, and have been getting progressively darker ever since. But from memory, this is the first time England have had an actual black shirt in ODIs. Which is a surprise.

As you can see on Ian Bell (who's probably taking this modelling thing a bit too seriously), the black shirt is complemented by red arms, and red panels under the arms. There's a tiny bit of white trim in there as well.

Jimmy's pretty gutted that he was asked to wear clothes for this latest modelling shoot

So what do I think about it? Well, after the initial shock that it's black, I don't mind it. I actually think it's quite nice. I'm sure theres all sorts of scientific spiel that is involved in the kit, but since I haven't been given a press release (not like last time), I can't tell you if there's any distinct advantage to this shirt, but on a purely visual level, I quite like it. I'd prefer to see a more colourful (either a nice bright blue, a bright red, or even a light blue shirt), but if I was told that England had to wear black this World Cup, this would probably be the best option available.

So now we just need to hope that it brings England a bit of luck!

25th February UPDATE!

We have some more information. The shirt will be available after the World Cup, and will be worn as England's ODI shirt for 2011 and the winter of 2012. Here it is all logo-ed up (can't wear big sponsors in ICC events...)

Front

and back

And here's the coporate spiel.

Climacool. A mixture of heat and moisture controlling materials, ventilation channels and three dimensional fabrics allow air to flow close to the skin. Key factors are taken into consideration such as the key heat and ventilation zones, the use of moisture management fabrics and conductive fibres that draw heat away from the body. Assists the athlete with temperature regulation regardless of the conditions.

Emboss print to front to add fabric value, Embossed lion to rear, stand up collar for UV protection, zip neck closure, embroidered adidas and ECB logo, Collegiate and light red contrast colour blocking to tie into traditional ECB red and bold training wear red, printed Brit to front centre chest and sleeve.

It doesn't make a great deal of sense, but there you have it. I've bought you as much information as I have. adidas - if you want to send me a shirt for all of my hard work, you know where to find me!

England's Kit Confusion

As you all know, it's not about the batsmen, the bowlers, the pinch-hitters or the death bowlers. The Cricket World Cup is all about the kits that the teams will be wearing. The fashions of the World Cup are big - with new shirts highly trumpeted and millions sold worldwide. Not too long ago we saw a whole evening devoted to the launch of the Proteas World Cup kit (to mixed reviews), but despite the fact that England are likely to have a nice new shirt, there's been a deathly silence.

There's nothing on the ECB website. There's nothing on the adidas website (who don't have a cricket specific page - or even recognise it under the "Other Sports" section). There's been absolutely nothing said by anyone. We don't even know for 100% definite that there's even going to be a new shirt worn at the World Cup.

While this is a very minor issue in the grand plan of winning the World Cup, it isn't the greatest chapter in the history of the ECB or adidas' public relations. The launch of the kit, as seen when South Africa had a big gala unveiling of theirs, can be a great event to whet the appetite of the cricketing public ahead of the World Cup. And for kids (OK, mostly me), seeing a new kit is really cool and exciting. The ECB and adidas have missed a big trick, as if they had a big launch, it would create a real buzz about the kit, and people would be rushing down the shops to get their nice new World Cup shirt with "Wright 6" or "Tredwell 53" on the back. As it is, there's nothing. Just me, constantly searching the internet for anything about the kit.

Here's how adidas had a go in the past - the launch of test, ODI and T20 shirts in 2008. Bit better than the silence of 2011. And it's got Tim Ambrose, which is always a plus.




Given that adidas have just launched a new shirt for South Africa, I'm going to assume that England are using the same template, with the green and yellow subsituted for red and blue. After much sweeping of the internet, I've found a potential artist's impression. No idea if this is going to be the real deal, but it's the best we've got.

Graeme Smith in the Proteas adidas World Cup kit

Is this the kit? Who knows...

This England shirt (if there even is a new shirt and they aren't just keeping the current navy-with-green-armpit one) won't be getting a big launch with fanfares, cheerleaders or fireworks. It will more likely than not be first seen on whoever walks onto the pitch first in the warm up against Canada on Wednesday. Hardly the big launch that it deserves. Mainly because I love a good kit launch.

The Shirt Midwicket

With the first release of the new England test and ODI kits comes the first ever fashion corner of the Short Midwicket; the Shirt Midwicket. (I know, clever!). Don't be alarmed, I am by no means a fashion expert, and this will be an incredibly occasional feature (ie every time England bring out a new shirt).

So let's have a look at the first shirt; the test one.



Looks a lot like a rugby shirt, doesn't it. The red lining which adorned the previous edition has gone, and the trim appears to be a different shade of white. The shirt itself is again very white, compared to the cream of other test nations. The shirt appears to have been compartmentalised (especially at the back) which apparently means that "key factors are taken into consideration such as the key heat and ventilation zones, the use of moisture management fabrics and conductive fibres that draw heat away from the body. Assists the athlete with temperature regulation regardless of the conditions". Put simply, it cools them down when they're hot. I think. Of course, I shouldn't forget the "brilliant white colour, stand-up collar for UV protection, button poppers on contrast red placket, emboidered logos", which isn't so much a sentence as a list, but adidas are German, so give them a break. Oh, and the previously black adidas logo is now red; like it is on the Australian shirt.

If you want to see it on an actual England player, adidas enlisted the help of the player who looked most like a model; Stuart Broad. And here he is.

Stuart Broad looking mean and moody


And here's the new ODI / Twenty20 shirt.



The ODI kit is quite similar to last year's offering. It's the same dark navy blue, but just without the dodgy white collar thing. adidas tell us that it has an "embossed lion to rear, stand up collar for UV protection, zip neck closure with red placket, embroidered adidas and ECB logo, contrast green mesh panels underarms, printed Brit to front centre chest and sleeve". But one thing is clearly missing from that spiel; it looks like a training shirt. I mean, it looks nice and all, and the red trim around the collar and side panels are attractive, but it would look more at home on the balcony with Andy Flower than on Anderson as he steams in. But anyway, this is the shirt that England will wear, and this is Ian Bell wearing it.


Fans get their final sighting of Ian Bell in a One Day shirt for England

So what about the price? Well as ever, the ECB website is over the top, with the ODI shirt worth £44.99 (with £11 if you want someone's name on the back), and the test shirt between £45 and £50, depending on whether you want long or short sleeves. So overall, are they worth it? Probably not, but if you shop around you will be able to get discounts on those shirts. Personally, I will probably go for the ODI shirt, but what with being a student and all, will wait for it to be a little bit cheaper.

ECB if you're reading - I think this excellent review is worth a shirt or two... just so I can test the kits further.

The new England shirts are available to pre-order on the ECB Store Website from today, and available to buy in the shops on May 1st.