Recent innovations in cricket bats

The concept is simple, and one that is tried and tested in other sports such as tennis and golf. Wood is fragile and
there are far smarter materials available - ones that are stiff or absorb shock better. In step with these scientific
principles, manufacturers of tennis racquets and golf clubs have shifted to carbon fibre and titanium - lessening
vibrations and in some instances, enabling an increased sweet spot.

In cricket, different materials were tried over the years and have met with stiff resistance by the guardians of cricket
laws. It was in 1977 that early research revealed that the batted ball speed of an aluminum baseball bat was about
3.85 mph faster than a wood baseball bat. Before long, an aluminum cricket bat, the ComBat, was in production.

Posing with the ComBat

In 1979, in a test against West Indies, Dennis Lillee used the aluminum ComBat. That was not against the rules and
this particular bat was already being bought by schools because of its durability. 12 days later, he used it again, this
time against England on the fourth day of the first test at Perth. When he straight drove a ball by Botham for 3 runs,
Greg Chappell thought it would have gone for a 4 with a conventional bat, so he brought out a wooden bat for his
mate. Meanwhile, English captain Mike Brearley complained to the that the metallic bat was damaging the cricket
ball. This led to a heated discussion following which Lillee, in apparent disgust, threw "the offending lump of metal
fully 40 yards towards the pavilion." An act for which he was let off with a warning. [Click here for a video of the
incident.]

Lillee was not oblivious to the sales potential, having gotten the bat signed by members of either team. Brearly, the
party-pooper, was smart and he wrote signed the bat "Good luck with the sales". The bat that Lillee used is
currently on display at the 'Bat and Ball' inn in Bangalore.

After the game, the ComBat sold like hot cakes few months, with the inventor Graeme Monaghan reportedly sharing
the profits with Lillee. But that came to an end some months later in early 1980, when ICC ensured that the laws of
the game were amended, specifying that bats had to be made from wood.

In 2004, Kookaburra launched the Big Kahuna Ricky Ponting - this one was made of wood but was "strengthened"
by a thin carbon graphite strip at the back which was thought to give him extra power and, MCC feared, "may
damage the ball." Of course, Ricky was allowed to use the bat for 53 ODI and test matches and enjoyed a
remarkable run of form - getting the second highest annual run tally in history in 2005 (average of 67.13 for the year
in tests). Not that it had anything to do with the bat - the real sweet spot was the inches between his ears!

The Graphite laced Kookaburra!

The excitement was shortlived. Readers might remember that in 2006 ICC proclaimed that these
bats contravened MCC Law 6, which prompted Kookaburra to withdraw the graphite bats from international
cricket - too bad because several more were embracing it including Justin Langer, Nathan Astle and Sanath
Jayasuriya. (The bat is acceptable for domestic league cricket and is still sold in USA by DreamCricket.com).

In its haste, it forgot to specify whether it was OK to use composite handles! In fact, the Cricket's Law 6 does not
say a word about handles!

John Newbery had successfully innovated in this area decades ago coming up with the (then) revolutionary treble
spring handle, known to give the bat greater feel and 'whip' using improved versions of traditional material such as a
stronger Irish linen thread (to tune the flex of the handle), an oval handle (again for greater feel) which was set
slightly forward so that the line of the handle follows the line of the blade's natural bow.

So the scientific community continued their efforts to make a handle that was lighter in weight and capable of shock
absorption - searching for newer materials from the laboratory.
Professor La Brooy, formerly of Boeing, had already imagined a bat with a handle that was lighter which would
mean that the weight could be shifted to the blade. "How I made the connection, I'm not sure. But I realised if a bat
handle were made of, say, fibreglass, more weight could be shifted to where the hitting was done. No longer would
you just have a sweet spot but a sweet zone," the Melbourne professor said.

In 2004, a team led by Professor Sabu John, an expert in smart materials from the Royal Melbourne Institute of
Technology, commenced research on handles and inserts for cricket bats that could reduce vibrations and dampen
shock. He was assisted by Tom Molineaux also of RMIT.

Prof Sabu John of RMIT University poses with the Smart Cricket Bat

Generally, the stiffer the bat, the faster the ball will come off the bat. But the stiffer the bat, the greater the shock!
Speaking about new technologies for a more advanced bat, John said in 2004: "We have to have a fine balance
between comfort for the batsman and energy back to the ball." His team also wanted to expand the "sweet spot" of
the cricket bat, the area on a bat that can hit a ball hard yet not cause unpleasant vibrations for the player.

The team developed a new handle made of a carbon fibre shell containing a polymer insert that absorbs vibrations.
They also embarked on research in the use of sensors akin to an "active vibration control system" prevalent in other
sports equipment.
Such systems use piezoelectric materials, and electromechanical devices, integrated with a chip that are built into the
bat's handle. The sensor passes a pulse of voltage which triggers the active vibration system to (a) generate waves in
the opposite direction cancelling out the original vibrations or (b) absorb the shock waves and covert them into heat
or light energy (imagine a bat that lights up on impact!).

The system was not something that was entirely devised by the geek squad in the lab! The $600,000 project was
supported by Australian Research Council, cricket bat manufacturer Kookaburra Sport and Davidson, a company
that makes sensors, support the research.

By 2007, the bat - called Smart Cricket Bat bearing the Kookaburra label, was patented as the world's first bat with
active vibration control that reduced vibration by 46%.

Not to be outdone, Gray Nicolls, Puma and Matrix created bats with lightweight carbon, graphite or kevlar handles
with same principles - stiffer, lighter and shock absorbing, of course without the sensors to match the Smart Bat!
The bats are the Gray Nicolls Fusion, Matrix and Powerbow, Matrix Concorde and the Puma Stealth.

In October 2008, MCC released the Appendix E to the Laws of Cricket which stated that: "As a proportion of the
total volume of the handle, materials other than cane, wood or twine are restricted to one-tenth for Grades A and B
and one-fifth for Grade C. Such materials must not project more than 3.25 in/8.26cm into the lower portion of the
handle."

So in effect, innovation once again met with resistance from the makers of the Laws. These bats with smart
handles were banned from international cricket.

Since 2008, manufacturers have focused on tinkering with shape of the bat itself taking off in areas untouched by
GN and SG, who in the eighties made bats without shoulders.

In 2008, Gray Nicolls brought out a double-sided bat which is expected to be attractive for Twenty20.
In 2009, Mongoose (sold exclusively by DreamCricket.com in USA) launched its bat designed with 33% shorter
blade and 43% longer handle, designed to provide 20% more power and 15% more bat speed (and hopefully 100%
more runs!). Newbery followed with the Uzi which it calls an ideal Twenty20 bat - it has a shorter blade and a
"Fish-Fin" handle.