Search
Related Links




 

 

Informative Articles

3-Pointer (Feb 1)
Point 1: Rudy T steps down Let me get this straight. Rudy T, whose Lakers right now are still maintaining 7th place in the conference...WITHOUT their star player....says he is stepping down on Tuesday for both health reasons and dissatisfaction...

Exhilarting Electric Scooters - A Thrilling Ride for All!
Get that adrenaline pumping with an electric motor scooter. Take a joy ride and find out first hand how much fun electric scooters can be. Looking for some new excitement in your life? Want to find it cheap? Imagine the adrenalin rush you’re...

Inline Skates and Exercise Benefits
Inline Skates and Exercise Benefits http://www.popularfitness.com Inline skating is a fun way to get in shape and stay fit especially on warm sunny days when it's a lot more enjoyable to exercise outdoors than on a treadmill or exercise bike...

The Biography of Sensei Derek Eastman - Part 1 of 2
I have known Sensei Eastman for some 12 years and during those years I have heard so many stories about both Sensei Eastman and Sensei Ellis and their dedication to the early promotion of UK Aikido, some of the history highlights their hard...

What you need to know about deep fishing.
Deep fishing can be for sport or commercial means. It is the practice of fishing in deep water to catch fish that live or feed near the bottom. These bottom fish get high prices at market that make them very desirable to fishermen. Deep fishing...

 
Cricket bat care and maintenance: knocking in your new cricket bat

Ideally you should knock in any new cricket bat for at least six hours, yes it's a lot but it will help condition your bat for heavy usage without damaging it.

You should also knock-in your new cricket bat even if it comes advertised as 'ready to play', as it still won't be ready for the full force of a hard new cricket ball, especially if you catch an edge or the ball hits the toe.

I've seen players go out on to the square with a brand new cricket bat, which hadn't been knocked in. In the first over he dug out a Yorker, which resulted in a 'fatal' crack in the toe of the bat. If it had been knocked in properly it's unlikely this would have ever happened. If you don't knock in your bat you could literally be 'throwing £200 down the pan'.

To knock in your bat I highly recommend you use an old high quality cricket ball.

Begin gently by tapping the bat, particularly focusing in on the edges, as these are a very vulnerable part of the bat and by the end you want the edges to be almost slightly rounded.

Spend 2-3 hours doing this stage of knocking in the bat, making sure you cover all of the face of the bat, excluding the splice area. Don't knock-in the back of the cricket bat.

After you have done this gradually


increase the force with which you hit the bat, making sure you systematically cover all of the face of the bat. By the end you should be hitting the bat with full force to simulate the impact of a real cricket ball.

When you have finished knocking in the bat, you should first progress to using the bat for out field practice and then in the nets against an old used high quality cricket ball, especially avoid 'bat breaker' cricket balls, you know the ones, cheap, hard and usually shiny. If your bat is going to break or split it's these balls that'll do the damage.

Once you've played the bat in for a few hours in the nets it'll be ready to take out on to the square.

It's a tedious process but well worth the time and effort for the results you'll get for your hard work. Its worth mentioning that some sports shops may offer a knocking in service for a small fee. Personally I like to do it myself to see how the bat progresses as it becomes more knocked in. Discover amazing cricket tips and tricks at Cricket Secrets.com that you can use today to explode your cricket results!


Or visit our cricket forum at the Cricket Secrets Forum

Sign up for PayPal and start accepting credit card payments instantly.