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How to Prepare & Repair your Cricket Bat and Get It Match-Ready

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Last Updated on 5 years by Charbel Coorey

How to Prepare and Repair your Cricket Bat and Get It Match-Ready | How to Repair Cricket Bat | How to Fix Cricket Bat | How to get Cricket Bat ready for a match

Buying/owning a beautiful cricket bat is a feeling cricketers love. We tend to stare at our new purchase or favourite bat like it is the love of our life.

However, cricket bats need plenty of care, right from the beginning to when it is a few years old. In this article, with the help of Sturdy Sports, you will come across some key tips to help you prepare your bat for match situations, as well as increase the life of your bat with some maintenance and repair tips.

Bat Preparation

1. Knocking in your bat

This is the most important aspect of getting your new bat ready for match situations. If you don’t knock in your bat adquately, you run the risk of causing cracks and dents, particularly against faster bowling.

What does knocking in your bat do?

  • Softens the fibre on the bat face and helps get the best ping, performance, and longevity out of your bat.
  • Helps reduce vibration, which aids your game.
  • Prepares the grains and fibres in your bat for action. Specifically, you strengthen and compress these fibres to prepare your bat.

How long should I knock my bat in for?

The more knocks, the better. If you use a standard mallet, the recommended time of knocking in is about six hours. So, if you choose this option, spend at least 30 minutes-1 hour each day for a week knocking in all parts of the blade, including the toe and edges.

If you want to outsource the knocking process, you can. Sturdy Sports provides a bat-knocking service, which includes 15,000 knocks by a machine.

Knocking in your cricket bat is vital.

2. Oiling your bat

Oiling helps prevent your bat from becoming too dry. A very dry bat is prone to cracking or splitting.

If you want to oil your bat, you can. Lightly oil the edges, toe, face and back of the blade. Leave your bat to dry, and then coat again at least one or two more times. Here are some key tips:

  • Use a small amount of Lindseed Oil. About a 10 cents coin’s worth.
  • To see if your bat needs more oil, run your thumbnail up the bat’s blade. If there is a tiny speck of oil on your thumbnail, then it is oiled nicely. If there is none, it needs another light coating.
  • Don’t oil the stickers or splice.

But, like bat knocking, you can have a service provider oil your bat. Sturdy Sports also provide this service.

3. Other considerations

There are a few other key things to keep in mind to further prepare your bat:

  • A toe guard is important as the toe is a fragile part of the bat.
  • Ensure your bat is at the perfect weight. Find out more here.
  • Add a bat sleeve to further protect the face and edges.
  • Face slow bowling (with an old ball) in the nets.
  • If you see some seam marks during practice, spend more time knocking the bat in.
Cricket Bat Repair: A good toe guard is important for a cricket bat.

Bat Protection

So, you’ve prepared your bat for action. Then, a few months and years pass. What next?

Bat care and protection never stops. There are some key considerations to keep in mind to protect your bat overtime.

1. Bat Servicing

From re-oiling to new sheet to new grip, it is important to always keep your bat in tip-top shape.

Check out this checklist which covers the important aspects of bat servicing, which also includes face protection, sanding and toe protection.

2. See any cracks?

Even if you prepare your bat well, there is always a possibility that a crack or split may occur, particularly against faster bowling.

What can I do if I see cracks?

  • If it’s a small crack, gently sandpaper that area of the bat for about 20 seconds. It should then disappear, which shows that there is no damage to the bat.
  • For a ‘hairline’ crack (less than two inches in length), use a very small amount of superglue.
  • Apply some glass fibre tape around the bat if its a slightly bigger crack.

However, if your bat has suffered significant damage, you will need the help of a service provider. For example, Sturdy Sports offers services such as shoulder crack repair, handle replacement and toe repair.

These options, along with some other repairs, could suit you if you love your current bat so much that you prefer it over buying a new bat.

How to Repair your Cricket Bat and Get It Match-Ready | How to Repair Cricket Bat | How to Fix Cricket Bat | How to get Cricket Bat ready for a match
Repair Cricket Bat: Cracks such as these should be repaired by a service provider.

Hope you enjoyed these special tips. You and your bat will be better for it.

Thanks for reading!

Charbel Coorey
Charbel Cooreyhttps://cricblog.net
Charbel is the owner & founder of cricblog.net, based in Sydney, Australia. He started the website to fulfill his love for the game of cricket. Charbel has been featured on other publications including OP India, Times of India, and The Roar, among others. He is also a keen fantasy sports player. Charbel has also had the privilege of interviewing cricketers on the CricBlog TV YouTube channel, including James Neesham, Rassie van der Dussen, Andrew Tye, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat and Saurabh Netravalkar: https://www.youtube.com/@cricblogtv For any story tips or questions, you can contact Charbel at charbelcoorey@cricblog.net.

Read the latest cricket stories and news on CricBlog and bet on your favorite cricket teams at 24betting India sportsbook. All new players get a welcome bonus on the first deposit.

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