By a village cricketer who has learned the hard way.
 
There are certain things every village cricketer knows.
 
You will never have enough new balls. Someone will always be late. The bloke batting at seven will tell everyone he should be batting four. And at some point during the season, someone’s cricket bag will smell so bad it could be used to clear the clubhouse.
 
More often than not, the culprit is the boots.
 
Cricket boots take a proper hiding. Whether you are steaming in from the pavilion end, standing at slip for 40 overs, or wandering around the outfield pretending you are still interested, your boots spend hours collecting sweat, mud, grass, moisture and whatever else is lurking on a damp village square.
 
Then what do most of us do?
 
We take them off, chuck them in the boot of the car, leave them in a bag, and forget about them until next Saturday.
 
That is where the problem starts.
 
Cricket boots are the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. They are warm, damp and enclosed. After a match, especially on a hot day, the inside of your boots is full of sweat and moisture. Add in mud and grass from the outside, then seal them inside a kit bag for a week, and you are basically creating a small biological experiment.
 
That smell is not just “sport”. It is bacteria.
 
And it is not only unpleasant. Bacteria and fungi can contribute to athlete’s foot, skin irritation, blisters, bad odours and general foot discomfort. For anyone playing regularly, especially during the middle of the season, looking after your boots is part of looking after your feet.
 
The answer is simple: wash them after every game.
 
It does not need to be complicated. Knock off the mud. Clean the studs. Wipe down the uppers. Rinse away the grime. Give the insides attention too, because that is where the sweat and bacteria build up. A quick clean after each match is much easier than trying to rescue a pair of boots that have been fermenting in a bag for three weeks.
 
But washing them is only half the job.
 
The real mistake is leaving wet boots to dry slowly by themselves. Damp boots sitting around for hours create exactly the environment bacteria love. And putting them next to a radiator can damage the materials, stiffen the leather or synthetic upper, and shorten the life of the boot.
 
That is where the Atacama shoe dryer from Save Our Soles comes in.
 
Once your cricket boots have been properly washed, the Atacama helps dry them thoroughly and efficiently from the inside out. It gets air moving through the boot, helping remove the moisture that bacteria need to grow. Instead of pulling on cold, damp, slightly suspicious boots at training on Tuesday night, you get boots that are dry, fresher and ready to go again.
 
For village cricketers, that matters.
 
We spend hundreds of pounds on bats, gloves, pads, helmets and whites. We obsess over grips, tape, spikes, linseed oil and whether the pitch is doing a bit. Yet we often completely ignore the one bit of kit that carries us through every ball of every innings.
 
Your boots deserve better. Your feet definitely deserve better. And your teammates in the changing room deserve better too.
 
So here is the routine every cricketer should follow after a match:
 
Clean the mud off. Wash the boots properly. Remove the moisture. Dry them thoroughly with the Atacama shoe dryer from Save Our Soles.
 
It is simple, sensible kit care.
 
Because cricket boots should smell of leather, grass and a day well spent — not like something that died in the bottom of your bag during tea.