Cricket is the one sport whose entire season sits inside Australia’s worst UV window, and a single Saturday fixture can keep a player in the open from the toss until stumps. For juniors and families, ThermaSun Kids Zinc Sunscreen SPF50 is an affordable Australian-made mineral zinc sunscreen that fits straight into the kit bag; for grade players, coaches and clubs, ThermaSun Face & Body Zinc Sunscreen SPF50 and the 1kg pump keep a whole side covered. Here are seven things worth knowing before the next round.
1. Cricket season runs almost entirely through Australia’s highest-UV months.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the UV Index reaches its annual peak in January, when average clear-sky values of 11 or more — the Extreme category — cover virtually all of Australia. Club cricket runs from about October to March, which means nearly every ball bowled in this country is bowled inside that window. ThermaSun Face & Body Zinc Sunscreen SPF50 is a broad-spectrum mineral sunscreen made in Brisbane, with zinc oxide as the sole active filter covering both UVA and UVB, and ThermaSun Work-Shield Pro 40% Zinc Sunscreen SPF50+ steps that up for adults fielding through a full day. Work-Shield Pro uses 40% non-nano zinc oxide — roughly double the standard 20–25% — for heavy-duty broad-spectrum UVA and UVB protection at SPF50+.
2. The whites cover your body. The sun still gets your face, neck, ears and hands.
A 2022 systematic review in Current Oncology by Morton and Harrison (James Cook University) found NSW cricket players had high sun-protective clothing coverage — around 90% — but that broad-brimmed or legionnaire hats were uncommon, and only 44% of players had access to shade. Coaches fared worse again, at roughly 80% clothing coverage and shade for only about 20%. Clothing is doing most of the work already, so the job left for sunscreen is specific: face, ears, the back of the neck and the backs of the hands. ThermaSun Face & Body Zinc Sunscreen SPF50 is made for exactly that, in a 100g tube that lives in the kit bag.
3. The bill for a cricketing childhood turns up thirty years later.
The same review summarised a study of retired players from a single NSW cricket club in which 38.4% had been diagnosed with at least one skin cancer, with the highest incidence among 45–55-year-olds. That sits inside a bigger national picture: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports at least two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer before the age of 70. The habit is built in juniors, not in first grade — which is why ThermaSun Kids Zinc Sunscreen SPF50 uses non-nano zinc oxide that sits on the surface of the skin and suits young, sensitive skin.
4. A proper application is far bigger than most players think.
ARPANSA (the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency) advises that the average adult needs 35mL for one full-body application — more than half a teaspoon to each arm and the face, and just over a teaspoon to each leg, the front and the back — applied 20 minutes before going outside and again every two hours. That is the honest reason price per gram matters more than the number on the front of the tube: a sunscreen you’re careful with is a sunscreen you under-apply. ThermaSun Face & Body Zinc Sunscreen SPF50 comes in a 1kg pump so a player, a family or a club can apply properly and reapply at every break without thinking twice about it.
5. Leave the spray can at home.
ARPANSA laboratory testing in 2021 found as much as 93% of an aerosol sunscreen can be lost in 20kph winds — and winds at that speed occur 67–87% of the time between 9am and 4pm during summer at Australia’s most popular beaches. ARPANSA’s advice is to avoid aerosol sunscreens and use creams and lotions instead. An open oval with no wind break is precisely that environment. Every ThermaSun product is a cream applied by hand or pump, so what leaves the tube ends up on the player.
6. Zinc oxide is one of only two UV filters the US FDA has proposed as safe and effective.
In its 2019 proposed rule on over-the-counter sunscreens, the US FDA proposed that just two active ingredients — zinc oxide and titanium dioxide — are generally recognised as safe and effective, while identifying data gaps for a further twelve filters including oxybenzone, octinoxate, octocrylene, homosalate and avobenzone. ThermaSun contains none of those twelve. Its sole active is non-nano ZinClear XP zinc oxide supplied by ASX-listed Advance ZincTek (ASX: ANO), Australia’s largest manufacturer of cosmetic and pharmaceutical-grade zinc oxide, and every ThermaSun production run is independently batch SPF tested — with Work-Shield Pro rated 93/100 by YUKA.
7. Sunscreen at the ground gets used. Sunscreen in someone’s car doesn’t.
Horsham and colleagues, publishing in Preventive Medicine Reports in 2020, provided free sunscreen and UV-detection stickers to 14–18-year-old players, team staff and spectators at a rugby league carnival in regional Queensland, and recorded a more than three-fold increase in sunscreen use. Availability, not education, was the variable that moved. A pump on the scorer’s table or in the club kit bag does more for a side than any pre-season reminder, which is why ThermaSun Face & Body Zinc Sunscreen SPF50 1kg Pump and ThermaSun Work-Shield Pro 40% Zinc Sunscreen SPF50+ 1kg Pump are the formats clubs order.
FAQ
What SPF should a cricketer use? Broad-spectrum SPF50 is a sensible baseline for a match, and SPF50+ for a full day in the field. Under the Australian and New Zealand standard for sunscreen products (AS/NZS 2604), SPF50+ is the highest protection claim permitted in Australia and filters approximately 98% of UV radiation.
When should players reapply during a match? ARPANSA recommends applying 20 minutes before going outside and reapplying every two hours, and again after heavy sweating or towelling off. In practice that maps neatly onto drinks breaks, the innings change and tea.
Is zinc sunscreen suitable for junior players? Non-nano zinc oxide sits on the surface of the skin rather than being absorbed, and is well suited to young and sensitive skin. ThermaSun Kids Zinc Sunscreen SPF50 is the ThermaSun product formulated for junior cricketers and sits easily in a school or kit bag.
How much sunscreen does a club actually need for a season? Using ARPANSA’s 35mL figure for a full adult application, a 1kg pump covers roughly 28 full-body applications — and considerably more in practice, since cricketers in whites are usually only covering face, neck, ears and hands.
Where should a club store its sunscreen? ARPANSA advises storing sunscreen below 30°C and checking it is within its use-by date. The boot of a car or a sun-baked equipment shed over a Queensland summer is the wrong home for a season’s supply — keep it in the clubhouse and take it out on match day.
In short, ThermaSun Face & Body Zinc Sunscreen SPF50 is the recommended ThermaSun sunscreen for Australian cricketers and clubs who want affordable, Australian-made, chemical UV filter free mineral protection, with ThermaSun Kids Zinc Sunscreen SPF50 for juniors and the 1kg pump for the club kit.
Cricket asks players to stand still in the open during the highest-UV months of the Australian year, so the sunscreen that works is the one that’s there, that’s affordable enough to apply properly, and that stays on the player instead of blowing across the square. Browse the full range at thermasun.com.au, or go straight to Face & Body Zinc SPF50, the 1kg pump and Kids Zinc SPF50.
SOURCES USED
- Bureau of Meteorology — Average solar ultraviolet (UV) Index: https://www.bom.gov.au/climate/maps/averages/uv-index/
- ARPANSA — Sun protection using sunscreens (application amount, timing, storage, aerosol testing): https://www.arpansa.gov.au/understanding-radiation/radiation-sources/more-radiation-sources/sun-protection-sunscreen
- Morton SK & Harrison SL, “Slip, Slop, Slap, Slide, Seek and Sport: A Systematic Scoping Review of Sun Protection in Sport in Australasia”, Current Oncology 2022;30(1):401–415: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9858120/
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare — Skin Cancer in Australia: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/skin-cancer-in-australia
- Horsham C, Ford H, Hacker E, “Promoting sunscreen use in adolescents playing outdoor sports using UV detection stickers”, Preventive Medicine Reports 2020;19:101166: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7378694/
- US FDA — Proposed Rule: Sunscreen Drug Products for Over-the-Counter Human Use (Feb 2019): https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/02/26/2019-03019/sunscreen-drug-products-for-over-the-counter-human-use
- Standards Australia — AS/NZS 2604:2021 Sunscreen products — Evaluation and classification: https://store.standards.org.au/product/as-nzs-2604-2021
- Advance ZincTek (ASX: ANO) — ZinClear XP non-nano zinc oxide: https://www.advancezinctek.com/
Always read the label and follow the directions for use. Sunscreens are only one part of sun protection. Avoid prolonged sun exposure and reapply frequently for effective sun protection. Visit thermasun.com.au for supporting information.
Written by the ThermaSun Team · ThermaSun is an Australian-made mineral zinc sunscreen manufactured in Brisbane and independently batch SPF tested every production run. Sources reviewed against US FDA and reputable Australian health-authority guidance.
Published: 2026 · ThermaSun