If you are looking for the best cricket bats at the best price, you have come to the right place. To know which bat is the best you can buy, you must take into account some aspects, such as the type of wood and its age, as well as the weight of the bat, among others.
When you choose a cricket bat, you may have a problem. Almost all of them resemble each other and have the same characteristics and prices. When you buy or choose one to play, you should keep in mind some simple parameters that will make your job easier and help you hit fours and sixes.
Clearance Cricket Store is a Melbourne based online store where you can get everything you need to start practicing cricket! Visit our store!
What are the best cricket bats?
Generally, the best bats tend to be the most expensive, that is why it is necessary to be clear for what you want to buy a bat. If you are a player with some experience, it is normal that you want to buy the best possible bat. However, there are many details that will make a difference, such as the type of wood, weight, among others.
Tips for buying a cricket bat
When choosing the best cricket bats, many questions arise. Most are very similar aesthetically and can have very similar characteristics. If you decide to practice cricket and want to buy a good cricket bat or shovel, you must take into account some basic instructions that will help you make your purchase the right one.
To make it easier for you to understand everything you have to consider when buying your cricket shovel, we have divided the main points to consider when buying your cricket bat into sections.
- Your needs
Before buying a cricket bat, you should consider your needs. For example if you are going to play with rubber balls, a tennis bat is perfect. If you want to practice with leather or polystyrene balls, you should buy thinner bats.
- Bat size
Before making the purchase, you must take into account the different sizes that are on the market. Keep in mind that cricket bats usually have different sizes depending on the age of the players. For ages between 10 and 12 years, the indicated size is 4. However, if the players are older, the size must be 5 or 6.
- Bat brand
It is always preferable to choose a brand with a reputation since otherwise the quality would be much lower and in a short time we will have to buy another bat. The good news is that today there is a wide variety of manufacturers and established brands that offer very good quality products, such as SG, Kookaburra, Gray Nicolls, etc. It is also true that prices vary depending on each brand.
- Wood types
This point is essential, you have to buy a cricket bat with a specific type of wood. Basically, in the world of cricket, willow wood is used, however, there are two types within this category. The English willow and the Kashmir willow. Which is better? Undoubtedly, English willow bats are the most famous in the world and also the most expensive, although the benefits they offer are much better than the bats made with Kashmir wood. This type of wood offers greater hitting power and therefore the ball will go a further distance. It all depends on your level, if you are starting the correct choice would be to buy a cashmere willow bat and if instead you already have a higher level, the recommendation would be to buy an English willow cricket shovel.
- Bat weight
In order to choose the best possible cricket bats, the weight of the bat must be considered. The rule is the lighter the bat the better. Depending on the manufacturer and the wood used, the weight of the bat may vary. Bats made from English willow wood are usually lighter than those made from Kashmir wood. Remember to check the weight of the bat before buying it. If you see that it is too heavy, discard it.
- Wood age
How to know the age of the wood? The correct way to find out is by looking at the grains. These elements are the lines represented on the front of the cricket bat that indicate the age of the wood used to manufacture it. The greater the number of grains, the greater the age of the wood and, therefore, the better the yield the bat will give. It is considered that from 6 “grains” the quality of the bat is acceptable to play at a certain level. The scale goes up to 10, being the best quality, grade A.
Where to buy the best cricket bats
Because cricket is still a minority sport in the world, it is sometimes difficult to find the necessary material to practice it. Luckily, we live in a globalised world where you can find almost everything on the Internet. The products recommended on this website are second to none in terms of quality.
In the early days of the sport, bats were more like current hockey sticks (in fact, they are supposed to have a common origin: shepherds’ sticks). The oldest surviving bat dates from 1729 and at first glance, it looks like a hockey stick. Then, the shape became more similar to the current one: a handle connected to a flat shovel on one side (with which the ball is hit) and curved on the other.
The cricket bat is usually made of white or weeping willow wood and varnished with flax oil. Willow wood has the advantage that it is light but at the same time very resistant to impacts like those of a cricket ball, and it is difficult to chip. The handle, meanwhile, is usually lined with rubber, to improve grip.
Under sports law, the bat must not be more than 965 mm, or more than 108 mm wide (and 67 mm or less thick). Its weight ranges between 1.2 and 1.4 kilograms. However, there are bats of different sizes for children. In 1979 an attempt was made to introduce the aluminum bat, but the authorities prohibited it and it can only be made of wood.
Modern bats are usually made almost all in Pakistan and India, although there are still artisan manufacturers in England, Australia or New Zealand. Kashmir, Punjab, Gujarat or Rajasthan are some of the regions with a long tradition of making cricket bats.
Bear in mind that Clearance Cricket Store is a Melbourne based online store where you can get everything you need to start practicing cricket! Visit our store and start trying it today!