Cricket hats are used in the sport of cricket by cricketers for one main purpose and that is to protect themselves from the sun. There are two main styles of cricket hat, the first being the traditional sun hat and the second being the more practical and popular cricket cap. The first type of cricket hat, the traditional shaped sun hat, is generally worn by the umpires and some of the fielders should they choose to do so. This is because the size and shape of the traditional cricket hat create restrictions on the amount of movement that the player can perform and so for players involved in bowling or batting or outfielders the sun hat is often very inappropriate. The main reason that umpires and some fielders will choose to wear this type of hat is because it offers far greater protection from the sun than the other cricket hat as the sun visor encircles the hat completely. This is important for umpires and fielders out in the sun in roughly the same place for a long period of time.

The second type of cricket hat, the more modern and popular cricket cap, is reminiscent of a baseball cap. Indeed there isn't a whole lot of difference between the two, other than the cricket cap is also made by the more traditional cricket clothing and equipment manufacturers. The advantage to wearing the cricket cap is that it will not fall off easily when the cricketer is running at high speed or changing direction, and as batsmen also wear cricket helmets it means that the cricket cap is used mainly by bowlers and the majority of the fielders.