The term cricket bat was first
mentioned in 1624. In that time, the bats used to be in the shape of hockey
stick because bowlers used to ball underarm ball as there was no bowling rules
mentioned. During 1970's, there was change in cricket rule and bowlers could
bowl the length ball as well. Hence, the cricket bat was modified and sides were
made parallel with and handle was made thin. This cricket bat is similar to the
modern bats used now a days but, the bat was very heavy and had little stroke in
comparison. It was 1835, the first round arm bowling was allowed and it was
necessary to modify the weight of bat and make it lighter so that batsman could
pick it and use it with ease. During the same period, bats were first
manufactured using more than one piece before this time, cricket bat used to be
made of a single wood used to break very fast
.
In the same year 1835, the maximum length of the cricket bat was fixed. The
maximum length of bat was fixed 38 inches at that time which is also same in
present context. In 1864, the over war bowling was allowed and there was more
lightening of bat and refining of the blade. There is no any significant history
about the cricket bat until 2010. In year 2010, the mongoose bat was launched
for the first time which is specially designed for the T20 cricket. Mongoose bat
blade is 33% longer than normal blade and handle is 43% longer than normal bat
handle. With the growth of T20 cricket and Honkong Super sixes, we might see
cricket bats with other variety too in near future.
Cricket Bats Size And Dimension
There are some limits about size and shape of bats as marked by the ICC cricket.
Cricket Bats Length:
Cricket Bats are classified into bat size 1, bat size 2 an so on on the basis of
the height of the bat.
Size 5 Bat: Height from 4'-11" to 5'-2"
Size 6 Bat: Height from 5'-3" to 5'-4"
Harrow Bat: Height from 5'-4" to 5'-5"
Academy Bat: Height from 5'-6" to 5'-9"
Full Size Cricket Bats: Height above 5'-9"
Size 1 bats to size 4 bats are very small in size and are never used in
international cricket. These size bats are used by kids. Full Size Bats are the
bats that are generally used in international cricket. Full size bats are also
categorized in to 2 categories, short handle bat and long handle bats. Short
handle bats are from 5 feet 9 inches to 6 feet two inches and above this, the
bat is called long handle bats. Long handle bats are not allowed in
international cricket as marked by ICC.
Maximum Height Of a Cricket Bat Fixed By ICC: 38 inches or 6 feet 2 inches.
Cricket Bats Width:
Cricket Bats width is relative to its height. For the certain height of the bat,
it width is also generally fixed certain. Here is the list for cricket bats
width according to its height.
Size 5 Bat : 4 feet
Size 6 Bat : 4 feet
Harrow Bat : 4 feet 2 inches
Academy Bat : 4 feet 3 inches
Maximum width Of The Cricket Bat Marked By ICC: 108 mm ( nearly 4 feet 3 inches)
Weight Of Cricket Bat:
There is no precise weight how heavy a bat should be. Generally, the
international level cricket bats are within the range of 1.1kg to 1.4kg.
International players like Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar used to play with
heavy bat in their early days but, the trend of playing with heavy bat has
changed drastically.
Modern Cricket Bats
As mentioned with the growth the cricket from ancient low arm bowling to T20
cricket, the cricket bats have been changed from bat that resembling hockey
stick to awkward looking bat with handle nearly equal to blade of the bat,
mongoose bat. The bats has become more lighter and lighter but, the stroke and
quality of bat has increased tremendously. Even, few decades back, hitting a six
was extremely difficult and one who had enough power with good timing could only
hit sixes regularly. Now, a days hitting a six is more about timing. This has
significantly increased the quality of the cricket game.