from his "somewhere"
Recently I've been fixating on getting a 5th Doctor Costume together. I ordered a Classic Sonic Screwdriver *WITH SOUND EFX* from Russ Replicas that should arrive sometime soon, I've Purchased a couple of patterns, found some excellent pants fabric on Spoonflower, bought red socks, a set of White Chuck Taylors, and even suchered together a set of Loop Suspenders (/Galluses) from two other sets of loop suspenders...
I was watching Four to Doomsday, and the scene where the Doctor Digs thorough all his pockets and then pulls a Cricket ball out from his .... well "somewhere"
Click to view(Watch from 1:44 on)
and figured I should probably get a cricket Ball. There appear to be quite a variety on eBay. There are PVC Cricket Balls used for Practice and Leather Cricket Balls used for actual play. The Inexpensive nature of the PVC Ball appealed to me as it was the right color and if it is only a prop for a costume - why spend more. But then I thought the Doctor would probably have a leather one, it would feel right in my hands and probably look better... I couldn't decide so I bought them both.
I ordered from this guy:
http://shop.ebay.com/pro_impact_sports/m.html?_nkw=cricket+ball&_sacat=0&_odkw=&_osacat=0&bkBtn=&_trksid=p3911.m270.l1313
I purchased both the "Pro Impact Polysoft Training PVC Cricket Ball" ($3.US + S/H - about $6) and the "1 CLUB Leather Cricket Ball - 5.5 Oz, Genuine Leather" ($8.US + S/H - about $12) - Now I've never played Cricket before as I live in the US and I haven't seen it played near where I live. So I don't know if there are classes of cricket ball quality - so I can't say what works best in a game. - However i can review my purchases.
The PVC ball is the right color for what you would expect a Cricket ball to look like - and from afar - looks great. Close up it has a slimy feel to it - perhaps there is some sort of ointment used to keep it preserved for play or some such ... I wiped most of that away with a paper towel and I notice that the Ball smells like Gasoline. And the white paint used on the Faux stitching looks like it will easily come off just by handling it. On the other hand it is a rubber ball and has a nice bounce to it.
The Club Leather ball almost feels lighter than the PVC ball - but that may be my imagination. It has a really tough glossy exterior - If this ball was flying for my face I'd imaging it might take some of my teeth along for the journey. Also I Imagine how much it would hurt if I fell down and landed on my "Cricket Ball" - though I'm sure people would laugh at any statement related to this. I imagine if I were to hit it with a Cricket Bat for a day it might feel slightly softer. This ball doesn't bounce very well on my wood floor, it is more of a "THUD!!!" than a bounce. It looks an appropriate color, and the stitching is genuine so it won't fade. It has a less objectionable smell than the PVC ball - I can't really describe it - it maybe the sent of cured leather. It is a milder smell. I'm not so sure how I feel about the "Logo". I suppose I would prefer the ball not to have any logo - but that doesn't seam an option on eBay. The logo is gold - I imagine it would fade If I used it in games. But when held in the hand it doesn't show the logo too much.
So after buying the two balls I don't really know which is the better ball for Cosplay purposes. For accuracy I guess the Leather ball is the way to go, but if you want to bounce it around (Maybe off the side of a spaceship so that it will bounce right back at you and push you closer to the Tardis...) I'm guessing the PVC ball is the way to go.(I imagine if I were to run the PVC ball under the tap and used some dish soap the smell would eventually fade, but the faux stitching might have to be touched up with some extra paint.)
The eBay seller does offer a slightly more expensive "1 Super County Leather Cricket Ball - Match Play" but I figured buying three balls when I will not be playing cricket any time soon might be a little silly.