Cricket Batting Pad Size Guide
A pad is sized on one span — the centre of the kneecap down to the instep — and it is measured with the leg slightly bent, the way it sits in your stance. That bend is the part the published charts leave out, and it changes the number. Heega makes pads in Youth and Mens.
Take the measurement first
Pad length
From the centre of the kneecap to the instep, in inches.
Stand with the leg slightly bent, as it sits in your stance — not locked straight. Measure from the centre of the kneecap straight down to the instep, the top of the foot where the tongue of the shoe sits. The bend matters: a pad is worn in the stance, and a locked-straight leg gives a longer number and the next size up.
Between two sizes: Take the smaller size. The knee roll has to sit on the kneecap; a pad a size too long rests on the instep and pushes the roll above the knee, leaving the joint it is there to protect uncovered. We make two pad sizes rather than six, so a step is a big one and it is better taken downwards.
Two sizes, not seven
Heega makes batting pads in Youth and Mens. Retail charts list seven, which looks thorough until you notice the shop only stocks three of them. Ours maps onto what comes off the bench.
| Pad size | On the site |
|---|---|
| Youth | Listed on the site |
| Mens | Listed on the site |
Why there is no length column here yet
Heega's own kneecap-to-instep lengths for Youth and Mens are being measured in the Meerut workshop. We could fill the column in from a published chart in about a minute, and it would be the one number on this site a customer could check with a tape measure and find wrong. Send us your measurement in inches and we will tell you which pair fits, today.
Heega makes the full range. Sizes we do not currently list on the site are available to order — ask us and we build them.
Pads are handed by the batting hand
Tell us the BATTING hand, not the leg. The front-leg pad carries the heavier protection on its outside edge, and which leg is the front leg depends on which hand you bat with — so a right-hand batter orders right-hand pads and right-hand gloves, and we work the leg out from there. Our catalogue records this as Hand on bats and gloves and Leg on pads, and the batting hand is what sets both.
Measure the leg, not the pad
This is the error that puts people a size or two out, and it is easy to make because several published guides invite it: their text says measure yourself while their diagram draws arrows on the pad.
Why the two numbers differ, and by how much
A pad is always longer than the leg it covers, because it wraps the knee and sits on top of the foot. One published pad chart gives 47 cm for its Men's size while every guide that measures a body puts an adult leg at 39 to 43 cm. Neither is wrong — they are different quantities. Take the 47 as a body measurement and you go up a size, the knee roll rides above the kneecap, and the joint the pad exists to protect is the one left bare.
Between two sizesPads go down. Gloves go up. Here is why.Batting pads: take the smaller size. Batting and keeping gloves: take the larger size.
The two rules and their reasons
- Batting pads: take the smaller size. The knee roll must sit on the kneecap. A pad a size too long rests on the instep and lifts the roll above the knee, so the one joint the pad exists to protect is the one left bare.
- Batting and keeping gloves: take the larger size. A tight glove kills the grip. The hand cramps, the fingers cannot wrap the handle, and you stop feeling the bat — and a glove is no use if the shot it was bought for cannot be played in it.
Two of the UK guides we checked say size up for pads. We say size down, and the reason is the knee roll: it has to sit on the kneecap, and length is the thing that moves it. The fit check is not the tape — it is standing in the pads and looking down at where the roll sits.
The partsWhat the pieces are calledKnee roll, bolsters, instep flap, wings — the words a fitting conversation uses.
| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| Knee roll | The bolstered band over the knee. It must sit ON the kneecap, not above it. |
| Wing | The side flap that protects the outside of the leg and takes the ball that beats the bat. |
| Bolsters | The padded vertical columns down the shin. |
| Straps | Three straps: one above the knee, two on the calf. They pass behind the leg. |
| Instep flap | Covers the top of the foot. Where the pad length is measured to. |
For comparison onlyA published chart, and where it breaksKookaburra UK published size guide, transcribed 27 Sep 2026 — cross-check only, not Heega figures
| Their size | Their height band | Their pad length |
|---|---|---|
| Extra Small Junior (1A) | 3'6" – 4'0" | 12 in |
| Small Junior (1B) | 4'0" – 4'3" | 13 in |
| Junior (1C) | 4'3" – 4'5" | 14 in |
| Youth (2) | 4'5" – 5'0" | 15 in |
| Small Adult (3) | 5'0" – 5'7" | 16 in |
| Adult (4) | 5'3" – 5'10" | 17 in |
| Oversize Adult (5) | 5'7" – 6'2" | 18 in |
Their height bands overlap: a 5'5" player matches Small Adult, Adult and nearly Oversize Adult.
These are not Heega sizes and are not our measurements. They are here because they show the problem: a player of 5'5" matches three rows of that table and cannot tell which is theirs. That is why this page leads with the measurement and treats height as the fallback rather than the answer.
What people ask about this size
How do I measure for cricket batting pads?
Stand with the leg slightly bent, as it sits in your stance, and measure from the centre of the kneecap straight down to the instep — the top of the foot where the tongue of the shoe sits. That single span in inches is the pad size. The bend is the part most charts leave out and it matters: measuring with the leg locked straight gives a longer number and puts you a size up.
If I am between two cricket pad sizes, do I go up or down?
Go down. The knee roll has to sit on the kneecap, and a pad one size too long rests on the instep and lifts the roll above the knee — so the one joint the pad exists to protect is the one left bare. This is the opposite of the rule for gloves, where you go up.
What pad sizes does Heega make?
Heega makes batting pads in two sizes, Youth and Mens. Our own kneecap-to-instep lengths for the two are being measured in the Meerut workshop and are not published here yet — send us your measurement in inches and we tell you which pair fits.
Are cricket pads left-handed and right-handed?
Yes, and they are handed by the batting hand rather than by the leg. The front-leg pad carries the heavier protection on its outside edge, and which leg is the front leg depends on which hand you bat with — so a right-hand batter orders right-hand pads and we work out the leg from that. Tell us the batting hand and the pair is built to match.