There is a famous image of legendary South African cricketer Barry Richards holding a bat in each hand. He is holding a thin bat with which he used to play in his right hand, while in the left, he holds a ‘super bat’ of the modern age. He looked shocked at the evolution of bats in different eras.
Since the beginning, there has been a lot of talks that cricket is a batsman-dominated game. Experts often say that batsman has had a considerable advantage over bowlers. There is a famous quote by Mr. GT Knight.
“It is universally admitted that batting dominated bowling to an extent detrimental to the game.”
A new study published in the Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology proves this point further. In the study, the scientists have said that cricket bats made of bamboo have higher sustainability as compared to willow bats. Traditional English willow, which has been a principle material for cricket bats for centuries, takes 15 years to grow, whereas bamboo is fast-growing and comes at a cheaper price.
Will this be an advantage to the batsman?
Yes, it will. Bats made out of bamboo are much stronger than traditional bats, which will help the batsman to hit the ball harder. Modern-day bats are filled with ‘sweet spots’. And the number of those spots will only increase in a bamboo bat.
“The sweet spot is a region on the bat where, when the ball hits on to that region, the ball flies away in high speed,” said Shah, meaning the bamboo bats provide more scope to hit the ball further, according to The Guardian.
“It (bamboo bat) is also very prevalent in countries that are taking up cricket such as China, Japan, South America as well,” said Dr Darshil Shah according to a report by The Guardian.
