Evolution of Cricket: The Story of Cricket bat and its evolution

Did you know the first cricket bat was similar to a hockey stick, then what happened that a hockey stick took the shape of the modern bat?

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We’ve seen many types of bats through the years some were controversial and have been banned but some are still being used by many players around the world such as mongoose bats. With so many varieties of bat have you ever wondered why most players use the same kind of bat not different from others? There are some regulations related to the dimension and appearance of a cricket bat and over many years the journey of getting a perfect bat has come through. 

Cricket, frequently hailed as the “respectable man’s down,” has seen an intriguing development throughout the long term. Among the numerous components that have gone through huge changes, the cricket bat stands apart as an image of development and transformation. From humble starting points with willow and strings to the state-of-the-art innovation of current bats, this article investigates the charming excursion of the cricket bat and its effect on the game.

History

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Evolution of Cricket: The Story of Cricket bat and its evolution  

There are many theories regarding the first bat ever spotted. One of the most popular is that the first bat came into the headlines in 1624 when a batter thrashed a fielder from his bat to prevent himself from a catch which later took his life, but at that, there were no laws and rules in cricket to avoid these incidents. It was the first time the world was introduced from Cricket bat and also it is considered to be the first incident of death on the field in cricket. After so many years when MCC made the Laws of cricket in 1744 cricket came under rules and regulations. The first bat was used to look like a modern-day hockey stick and it has no specific dimensions. 

In 1771, an English batter named Shock White entered the ground with the bat with the width of wickets. This incident is called the monster bat incident of 1771 and after that, MCC decided that the bat would not get wider more than 4.25 and these numbers have never changed. The width of the bat was fixed but its design was still similar to that of hockey. 

The design of the bat kept changing over the years and in 1835 the MCC also fixed the length of the bat to 38 inches this dimension is also unchanged till today. In 2017 when David Warner entered the field with a bat having a depth of 85 mm, it made controversies and then ICC with the consultation of MCC restricted the depth of the bat to 67mm. In the middle of the 19th century, bats started looking similar to nowadays. When overarm bowling was legalized in 1864 the bats started becoming lighter to face fast bowling and that completed the evolution of bats in terms of legality. 

Dimensions of bat

Dimensions  Size
Height 96.52cm/38inch
Width 10.8cm/4.25inch
Depth 6.7cm/2.64inch
Edges 4cm/1.56inch

Bamboo bats

In 2021 Cambridge University tested a bat made of bamboo and proposed an idea that bats made from bamboo are stronger and cheaper than bats made from traditional willows. This idea has become a sensation and the whole world was asking ICC to look at it. Later MCC breaks their silence by refusing the proposal and revealing that Crickets bats only could be made from wood and bamboo is a type of grass. The bamboo bat doesn’t have two bodies but multiple which are assembled by glue and it uses lamination lamination can’t be used in adult bats. 

Controversies 

Evolution of Cricket: The Story of Cricket bat and its evolution
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The Monster Bat Incident of 1771 

This incident led to the first-ever legal rule to be made in cricket related to the dimension of the bat. In 1771 during a game between Chertsey and Hambledon in Surrey an English batter Shock White came to bat with a wicket-length wide bat to stay away from getting bowled. Later MCC the creator of Laws of Cricket realized that the bat couldn’t be this wide so they restricted the width of the bat to 4.25 inches (10.8 cm) maximum. 

Dennis Lillee’s aluminum bat 

Did you know why bats are only made of wood and not any other material? That’s because in the first test match between Australia and West Indies at Brisbane in 1979 Australian Legendary seamer Dennis Lillie came out to bat with an Aluminum bat. At that time no one complained about the pacer’s action but 12 days later in the first test of the Ashes 1979 he did the same incident twice and entered the ground with the same metal bat. This time Australian Captain Greg Chappel realised that the bat was damaging the ball so he reprimanded his teammate’s action. Chappel had asked Dennis to replace his bat with the wooden one but Dennis refused then the captain himself went to him inside the field and handed him a wooden bat, and Dennis threw his metal bat in anger. After this incident, MCC made the rule that bats would only be made with wood so that balls would not get affected and the spirit of the game would also be maintained. 

Ricky Ponting’s carbon Graphite strip in his bat

Did you remember in 2003 after the final match of the World Cup there was a news running that claimed that Ricky Ponting had used spring in his bat during the final against India? Later revealed that it was just a rumor but in 2005 against Pakistan in a test match after scoring a double century Australian Captain was surrounded by allegations of using carbon graphite in his bat after investigating MCC banned the bats that contained carbon Graphite strips. 

Mathew Hayden’s Mongoose bat 

The mongoose bat is legal as he completes all the requirements of the legal cricket bat. In the past many players have used this bat to hit boundaries for example Kapil Dev has used this type of bat in his most inning of 175 in the 1983 World Cup. Mongoose drew attention in 2010 again when Former Australian Opener Mathew Hayden was spotted with the same bat in the Indian premier league. The bat was so good for smashing as he scored a brilliant 93 runs with the bat. The bat was good for an aggressive approach but it also had a high possibility of making the batter out while defending or playing shots which is why it failed to gather much attention from big players and left unnoticed. 

Andre Russel’s black bat

West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell came out with a black color bat in the 2016 Big Bash league. Later he got mixed-up reviews for using that kind of bat and people started criticizing him. Due to an issue that this type of bat could affect the color of the ball, the bat has been banned by Australian Cricket. One year before this incident almost the same controversy happened when another West Indian Star Chris Gayle used a golden-colored bat and fans claimed that Gayle was using metal in his bat. Later the Spartan’s owner Kunal Sharma cleared that no metal was used in that bat.

Also Read: India vs South Africa: a test match that ICC never officialized