Despite the utterings of South African batsman Quinton de Kock, who recently exclaimed “a bat is just a bat and wood is wood” during a visit to a bat-making factory, there are several factors to consider when choosing a willow.
Here, three experts give their individual and collective insight on several elements involved in some pretty tough, but important, choices.
Back foot versus front foot
“Players who play predominantly off the front foot have a tendency to hit the ball lower down the bat, whereas back foot players tend to hit the ball higher up the blade,” Gunn & Moore’s Peter Wright was quoted as saying on Sport and Recreation South Africa’s official website.
“The weight of the bat is largely determined by the amount of willow in the blade and its density. We can control the shape, but can have little effect on the density of the willow, apart from ensuring that the moisture content is as low as possible without making it too dry and brittle, which will lead to early breakage. Typically bats will have a 10 percent moisture content.”
Age and the dawn of Twenty20 cricket
“Primary school players should choose a bat with the lightest possible weight, in a range that they can afford. The Twenty20 revolution has evolved the game and range of shots at awesome speed. Not all players, however, employ the same style,” said Kookaburra distributor representative Nicola Ludlow.
“The most important factor when choosing a bat is to ensure that its profile, technical design and weight suits your customer. If outright performance is vital, your customer should always select a bat with a greater white to red wood ratio.”
Size matters
“Everyone wants a bigger bat, but with a lighter weight. Pick-up in cricket bats is a very interesting concept. The weight of a handle of exactly the same dimensions can vary by as much as 85 grams when it is in the bat. A bat weighing 1.13 kilograms with a light handle will weigh 1.21 kilograms with a heavy handle in it. The 85 grams extra ounces are, however, in the batsman’s hands and therefore does not feel nearly as heavy as if the 85 were added to the bottom of the blade,” added Grays International’s Richard Gray, whose theory was largely supported by Betway Insider‘s exclusive interview with Gray-Nicolls’ bat maker Chris King.
