Cricket bat
A cricket bat is a specialised piece of equipment used by batters in the sport of cricket to hit the ball, typically consisting of a cane handle attached to a flat-fronted willow-wood blade. It may also be used by a batter who is making batter's ground to avoid a run out, by holding the bat and touching the ground with it. The length of the bat may be no more than 38 inches and the width no more than 4.25 inches. Its use is first mentioned in 1624. Since 1979, a law change has dictated that cricket bats can only be made from wood.
Construction
The blade of a cricket bat is a wooden block that is generally flat on the striking face and with a ridge on the reverse which concentrates wood in the middle where the ball is generally hit. The bat is traditionally made from willow wood, specifically from a variety of white willow called cricket bat willow, treated with raw linseed oil, which has a protective function. This variety of willow is used as it is very tough and shock-resistant, not being significantly dented nor splintering on the impact of a cricket ball at high speed, while also being light in weight. The face of the bat is often covered with a protective film by the user. In 1900 Percy Stuart Surridge developed a reinforced toe.The blade is connected to a long cylindrical cane handle, similar to that of a mid-20th-century tennis racquet, using a splice. The handle is usually covered with a rubber grip. Bats incorporate a wooden spring design where the handle meets the blade. The current design of a cane handle spliced into a willow blade through a tapered splice was the invention in the 1880s of Charles Richardson, a pupil of Brunel and the first Chief Engineer of the Severn Railway Tunnel. Spliced handles had been used before this but tended to break at the corner of the join. The taper provides a more gradual transfer of load from the bat's blade to the handle and avoids this problem.
The edges of the blade closest to the handle are known as the shoulders of the bat, and the bottom of the blade is known as the toe of the bat.
Bats were not always this shape. Before the 18th century, bats tended to be shaped similarly to modern hockey sticks. This may well have been a legacy of the game's reputed origins. Although the first forms of cricket are obscure, it may be that the game was first played using shepherd's crooks.
The bat generally recognised as the oldest bat still in existence is dated 1729 and is on display in the Sandham Room at The Oval in London.
Maintenance
When first purchased, most bats are not ready for immediate use and require knocking-in to allow the soft fibres to strike a hard new cricket ball without causing damage to the bat, and allowing full power to be transferred to the shot. Knocking-in involves striking the surface with an old cricket ball or a special mallet. This compacts the soft fibres within the bat and reduces the risk of the bat snapping. The bat may also need raw linseed oil, which fills in the gaps between the fibres.Raw linseed oil is used, rather than boiled linseed oil, as the raw form is also a drying oil but very slow "drying", and so the surface remains tacky. Applied regularly, this has a protective effect on the wood and makes it less sensitive to humidity changes in the atmosphere, which could cause warping or splitting. Another important factor is that it increases the surface friction of the ball to the bat surface, giving better control of the shot. A worn surface can be noticed by the player, indicating that re-oiling is needed.
Sizes of bats
of the Laws of Cricket state that the length of the bat may be no more than 38 in, the width no more than 4.25 in, the overall depth no more than 2.64 in and edge no more than 1.56 in. Appendix B of the Laws of Cricket set out more precise specifications.The 2017 update to the Laws saw no changes to the maximum length of the bat, which is still 38 inches/96.52 cm, but a new specification stated that the edge of the bat cannot be more than 1.56 inches / 4 cm while the depth cannot be more than 2.64 inches / 6.7 cm. The umpires are now given a bat gauge so they can check the legality of the bat at any time.
Bats are available in a range of sizes, with some manufacturers offering unique variations. Commonly found are children's sizes 0 to 6, youth size Harrow and adult sizes. SH is the most common adult size, whilst long handle and long blade options are also available. Children's sizes increase in length and width as the size increase. Although most adult bats will be the maximum width permitted, no generally available cricket bat is a maximum length of 38 very few exceed 35 inches.
Variations
Various companies have over the years tried new shapes that come within the laws of the game to make a name for themselves and to improve sales. In the 1960s the first shoulderless bats appeared from Slazenger. This allowed more of the weight to be redistributed to the "sweet spot" of the blade providing more power to each stroke, whilst still having good balance and light "pick up". This style of the bat was made famous by Lance Cairns's six sixes in a match played in 1983.The 1970s saw double-sided bats from Warsop Stebbing. With the advent of Twenty20 cricket, double-sided bats are experiencing renewed interest.
In 1974 the first GN100 Scoop was released; this was the first bat to turn to shape on its head by removing the wood from the centre of the rear of the bat. By removing this wood, the bat became lighter, its sweet spot grew and its pick-up improved. Even though there is less material, strong strokes are still possible if well-timed. It allows weaker players to play many strokes they would otherwise omit from their repertoire. This bat quickly became a big seller and various scooped bats such as the GN500, Dynadrive and Viper have been released by Gray-Nicolls ever since, including a re-release of the Scoop itself for the 2012 English season. The removal of wood from the rear has been copied by many other companies without much critical acclaim.
In 1979 Australian cricketer Dennis Lillee briefly used a ComBat aluminium bat. After some discussion with the umpires, and after complaints by the English team that it was damaging the ball, which was later proved untrue, he was urged by the Australian captain Greg Chappell to revert to a wooden bat as Chappell believed it was not delivering the same amount of power to the ball as a regulation wooden bat. The rules of cricket were shortly thereafter amended, stating that the blade of a bat must be made entirely of wood.
In the 1980s Stuart Surridge & Co developed the Turbo. Designed by John Surridge, the bat was formed from two pieces of willow which reduced the flex and increased the transfer of power. The bat was used by Graham Gooch for his record 333 against India in 1990.
In 2005 Kookaburra released a new type of bat that had a carbon fibre-reinforced polymer support down the spine of the bat. It was put on the bat to provide more support to the spine and blade of the bat, thus prolonging the life of the bat. The first player to use this new bat in international cricket was Australian Ricky Ponting. Kookaburra withdrew it after advice was received by the ICC from MCC that it was illegal under Law 6.
In 2005 Newbery created a carbon fibre handle, the C6 and C6+, which weighed 3 ounces/85 grams less than a standard laminated cane and rubber handle. It was used by Newbery and Puma for three years before the concept was copied by Gray Nicolls with a hollow plastic tube. However, this provoked the MCC to change the law on materials in handles amid fears that the new technology would lead to an increase in the distance the ball was hit. Appendix B.2.3. in the Laws of Cricket concerns - Materials in handle and states that "As a proportion of the total volume of the handle, materials other than cane, wood or twine are restricted to one-tenth".
In late 2008, SAFBats created a cricket bat with an offset edge. The edge offsetting allowed for an extended middle, better swing weight and increased performance without compromising the cricket bat's balance. The production models were available in 2009, and the bat won awards in 2010 and 2012.
Twenty20 bats
In 2004, Newbery created the Uzi, with a truncated blade and elongated handle for the new Twenty20 format of the game. This change allowed more wood to be placed in the middle, as more attacking shots are played in the shorter version of the game. In 2009, an extreme version of the Newbery Uzi shape named the Mi3 was launched by Mongoose. The design is unusual in that the blade is 33% shorter than a conventional bat and the handle is 43% longer. Launched with a fanfare of publicity, it proclaimed the idea of not defending the ball in the T20 format and purely playing attacking shots.On 11 March 2010, Mongoose launched its range in India with the announcement of Matthew Hayden as the brand ambassador. Stuart Law, the former Australian Test player, called it "a half-brick on a stick". The bat was used by Hayden in the 2010 version of the IPL. Gareth Andrew, the Worcestershire all-rounder, scored his maiden 100 with an MMi3 in professional cricket when he hit 100 off 58 balls at the Oval in 2010 against Surrey.
In 2008, Lekka Cricket launched a T20 format bat, the Big Hitter. Black Cat Cricket then launched a T20 format bat, the Joker, in 2009. These worked on a similar principle to other T20 bats with the blade length reduced by one inch and an inch longer handle, but uniquely reduced the width of the bat to 4 inches in an adult bat.