Why Do They Call Cricket 'Outfits', Whites.......?

Question

...when they are cream in colour.

My mrs asked me this this morning, it stumped me. Oooh, sorry about the pun.

Answer 1

White and cricket go together way back, may be the reason.

Answer 2

nice pun!

they're supposed to be white, when i played domestic cricket we wore proper white clothes, and hence whites, some teams do wear cream but that may be because of the sun or washing

otherwise theyre white! infact coloured uniforms are a recent idea only from after kerry packer did they take off...

Answer 3

I think cricketers should worry about the game and not the creamy outfits.What matters is your performance on the field.

That's the Aussie way of thinking and that's why we rule.

Answer 4

I was wondering about this the other day and I'm not entirely sure.

However you should check out the new England kit... it couldn't be any whiter!!!

EDIT: Hmmm people keep saying that the kits probably turn cream with age and weathering however the previous England Test shirts I have bought (and the Warwickshire ones) were cream to begin with and have never been white?!

Answer 5

Believe it or not,  they're white to begin with.   Once you throw 'em through the wash a few times, they inevitably turn a creamy colour.

Anyway it sounds better.  I mean,  who'd wanna wear their creams?

Edit - Sorry.   It's late and I'm tired...

Answer 6

It refers to the colour of the Test match uniforms. There probably is a law of the game which dictates that white must be worn by players for test matches but I don't know it off the top of my head. I'm speculating that cream or beige uniforms are due to the unintentional deterioration of the fabric through perspiration or sun damage. Some uniforms may intentionally be cream in colour and in that case 'Whites' would be applied as a legacy term.

Answer 7

In fact, in the days before synthetic materials were available, the cricket clothes were always cream because of the method of washing them. They were mostly wool fabrics & as you may know, wool was not an easy thing to keep white.Hot water is the culprit for turning white wool cream! Anyway, most cricket clothes are white today, I don't know how many you've seen up close, but the ones I have are always white.