Knocking In Your Cricket Bats - The How-to Guide

Cricket is a game that is wildly popular throughout the world

, especially in Europe, Asia and Australia. Many people follow the game like a religion. Kids and teenagers train for many hours everyday to hone their cricketing skills. If you want to become a good batsman, you have got to focus on your technique and power of concentration. However, more importantly, you must learn to care for your cricket bat and other gear. Only if you keep them in proper shape will you be able to succeed and score a lot of runs.

Cricket bats are made from willow wood and are manufactured by many leading sports gear companies. Most cricket bats are mechanically pressed and this leads to concentration of stress in some parts of the bat. Therefore, a new cricket bat will not offer much control. Since the willow fibres are compressed to a great extent, they may snap immediately if they are not seasoned. This 'seasoning' process is referred to as 'knocking in'. This process involves repeated striking of an old cricket ball with the new bat, to release the stresses and compact the willow fibres.

The knocking in process is quite simple. The new bat should first be coated with linseed oil, and left alone for some time. This should be repeated two more times. After you have applied three coats of linseed oil, you should first check the initial indentation of the bat. For knocking in, you can use an old cricket ball or a wooden mallet. It is always better to start with the old cricket ball, and then move on to the mallet. You should repeatedly strike the old ball for four or five hours. You can do this by tying the ball to a string and suspending it from the ceiling. Check if the original indentation is gone. After this, start hitting the bat gently with the wooden mallet. You should do this to all the parts of the blade of the bat. You can also cover the blade with an anti scuff sheet to avoid cracks.

You can also face your bat with a protective covering. This will protect the bat from impact failure. You should be very careful when you choose your cricket bat. You should go to the sports equipment dealer and try out a few bats. You should try to play some strokes and you should buy the bat only if you are really comfortable with it. Knocking in is very essential, and if you ignore it, you will end up breaking your bat in a cricket match when the new ball hits your bat at a very high speed. These days, manufacturers sell pre-knocked in bats. The knocking in process is carried out by the manufacturers before they sell it. This saves you a lot of time. You should practise as much as possible with your new bat to gain more control over it. Only then will your strokes be really powerful.

by: Lawrence White

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