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Cricket Bats for English Conditions

This has been reproduced due to requests for these kind of bats by English customers.These bats also apply to cricketers in similar playing conditions.


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Cricket Bats for English Conditions
Laver & Wood Article
Prepared by J Laver & S Lusk
July  2005

As the English cricket season is in full swing many English cricketers will be thinking of buying a new bat. Many Southern Hemisphere players will be spending a season in England, and wondering what type of bat is best to be using.
The combination of English weather, English grounds, and use of balls harder
than those used in the Southern Hemisphere means a different style of bat
will allow batsmen to perform at their best without wrecking bats.

England is colder and wetter that in the Southern Hemisphere. This means
slow, low pitches, lush slow damp outfields and balls that are often damp.
English cricket grounds are not always flat - everyone knows about the slope
at Lords, but many other grounds are not the flat surfaces southern
hemisphere batsmen are used to.

The English cricket ball market is dominated by manufacturers who make a
ball considerably harder than the average Australian made ball. These balls
start harder and stay harder, so inflict considerable damage to bats,
causing bats to disintegrate faster.

The implications of the hard balls and wet conditions are that the type of
bat that will perform best in England is a different bat to one that a
batsman would favour in warmer climates. With low slow pitches flat bat
shots are rare. Front foot straight bat shots dominate the game. Bats should
have a low middle, and probably be slightly heavier than those used at home
as straight bat shots do not require the batspeed flat bat shots require,
and the heavier bat will provide value for shots. Inconsistent English
pitches make it harder to time the ball, and mistimed shots go further with
more weight behind the middle.

There is a school of thought that lighter bats should be used in England, as
a light bat will allow adjusting the shot more readily if the ball deviates.
Lighter bats have a significant down side. A light bat means you go harder
at the ball, which lowers the value of the lighter bat as the trade off of
the improved batspeed that you commit earlier. Heavier bats also encourage
playing one line - important on pitches that cause the ball to deviate.



Bats should also be specifically made to take into account wet ball damage.
Toes are vulnerable to cracking, especially if they become wet. An insert in
the bottom of the toe will protect the toe -years of testing lead me to
recommend the original Stuart Surridge design, with a hardwood insert across
the toe. Wet balls can also damage faces of bats, so an adhesive plastic
facing is strongly recommended. To ensure the bat lasts for as long as
possible it should be oiled properly before the facing is applied. A
suitably fitted rubber strip on the base of the toe also helps.

Adding to the potential water problems is that English cricket often carries
on in rain - so bats get wet, making them heavy and swelling the wood.

While the wet conditions are a problem the hard balls create another
problem - they damage the bat badly. The toe protection outlined above will
help deal with yorkers, and a bat for English conditions should also have
thicker than usual edges, and be pressed harder than usual. This will
protect the edges and the face from cracking. The down side of the hard
pressing is that some of the desirable 'spring' will be taken out of the
willow. Harder balls also can cause problems with handles breaking, so a
stiffer handle is recommended.

Finally, if you are playing seriously in the United Kingdom and practicing
regularly a net bat is a good idea as balls used in the nets are also very
hard. The net bat should be similar to the bat described above, although
perhaps pressed even harder. It can be of a cheaper grade, as shots in the
nets don't count for runs, and cheaper bats are often harder pressed.
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