The reason why Test and first-class players wear white jersey revealed

Many of us are fans of Test match cricket. A format played by the gentlemen of the game, which needs an immense amount of skill-set, craft and talent. Talk about Tests and the things that come to mind are the red cricket ball and the white jersey. From the likes of Don Bradman to Sachin Tendulkar, each of the greats of the game donned the whites and gave their best.

Even though the shortest format of the game-T20 cricket has revised the game in many ways as we witness new colors every season but the whites in Tests hasn’t lost its shine, even with the addition of few sponsored stickers of reputed brands.

County cricket in England, Sheffield Shield in Australia and Plunket Shield in New Zealand have digits written on the backs of the cricketers, but they still put on whites. According to Neil Robinson, Research Officer at MCC, the historical Marylebone Cricket Club based at Lord’s Cricket Ground, the color white came into consideration as just a necessity : “we have to bear in mind that in terms of its organisation, cricket goes back to the 18th century and they had to use the materials that were readily available,” says Robinson

Jackets and shorts in the game

He said that white wasn’t the uniform by choice and that many cricketers used to wear jackets and shorts.”White wasn’t the uniform of choice until around the end of the 19th century,” adds Robinson. “In the 18th-century cricketers would wear everyday clothing; short jackets, waistcoats and top hats. The colour white evolved with the evolution of professional cricket teams in the late 19th century, with the initial get-up consisting of a formal white shirt emblazoned with red polka dots, paired with a shirt and woolen cap. ”

There was no particular rule about the uniform,” says Robinson. “It seems to have just evolved that way, after the great players of the age adopted white to reflect the summer rays.”