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By Ajit Menon, a leading Bat maker
 It
is tedious, but the best thing you can do for your new bat is
to knock it in carefully. We are outlining the optimum method
for doing so to ensure maximum life and performance from your
bat.
Cricket bats break! All Matrrixx bats are made from
naturally air-dried seasoned English willow. The quality of
the bat you have purchased will be greatly enhanced by the
initial care and treatment you give it. It is an irony of bat
making that the better the performance of the willow the more
likely it is to last a shorter time than a cheaper
alternative.
There are three essential ingredients to the
manufacture of a top quality cricket bat:
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The quality of the willow cleft from the
supplier
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The skill of the batmaker in combining this
willow and the handle to produce a bat with excellent pick-up
and balance.
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The pressing of the willow.
Willow clefts are sold in different grades,
principally on their cosmetics, number of grains and the
straightness of those grains. Regardless of the grade all
Matrrixx bats are made to Test match Standard and quite often
some of the bats made from lower grade clefts outperform the top
grade ones. The batmaker is the first to see the ‘face’ of the
bat. He will then determine what grade the willow should be used
for from experience and eye. Once graded, the willow is then
mechanically pressed accordingly. At Matrrixx, the willow
receives a relatively light pressing which allows the fibrous
willow to retain its spring or ‘ping’, heavier pressings compact
the wood which makes it harder, and so more durable, but reduces
the natural spring in the wood that makes it so good for
striking a ball.
As such, pressing is a compromise between
maximizing the blade’s performance against ensuring the bat
lasts a reasonable amount of time. Some professionals use bats
that are hardly pressed at all - this results in top performance
but will give the user just 250 odd runs and a couple of
practice sessions! Fine, when somebody else is paying for your
bats!
Some bat sellers offer a ‘knocking in and oiling service’. The
oiling is obvious, the knocking in simply re-pressing the bat,
which if you have purchased an expensive bat negates the whole
point. Making the willow harder serves only to reduce
performance from that willow - just buy a cheaper bat!
First, oil the bat. Don’t be tempted to use too much, little and
often is the mantra here. Sometimes, particularly on heavy bats,
you can actually see the willow sucking up the oil. Stick to a
tablespoon! Give the blade a day or two between oiling (around a
tablespoon is plenty) and always leave the bat horizontal after
oiling, in a cool place. At no time during a bats life should it
be exposed to heat, this will dry the blade, promoting cracking.
Never leave near a heater. And the very worst thing, and lots of
cricketers do it, is to leave the bat in the boot of the car
during the summer. Don’t.
Before knocking in, apply two coats with a day (or more) between
to the edges, the toe and carefully to the shoulders. Being the
cut across the grain, the toe and shoulder soak oil in to the
blade quickly. Oil here will effectively seal and protect the
bat from moisture, after heat the most hazardous substance to
the life of a bat.
The key is to knock in the edges and toe well, harden these
vulnerable area’s whilst retaining the ‘ping’ in the middle,
where you will want it. A bat mallet is best. Firstly, knock in
edges very, very gently. Some models have quite sharp edges and
these must be rounded very carefully all the way along both
sides of the bat including the shoulders. Gently.
Likewise the front edge of the toe. Once this is complete, start
about an inch in from the edge and methodically make contact
with the face gradually more firmly until you no longer can see
the indent of the mallet on the blade when you strike it. Do
this up and down both edges from an inch in to the edge. This
effectively will have knocked your bat in and reduced potential
damage without compromising on the blade’s performance. The
middle should receive a gentle knocking in, as it will be
subjected to force from the cricket ball on contact. A good
indicator is to bounce a ball on, or play some gentle shots with
the bat and an old, good quality ball. If the seam of the ball
can be seen on the blade, you are not finished!
Oil lightly roughly once every six weeks thereafter in
the season, and once before off season storage - in a cool
place! A garage is perfect for this purpose.
We recommend a toe guard and anti-scuff sheet strongly. We of
course want you to enjoy your bat’s performance and maximize its
useful life. A Test or Grade 1 model properly looked after will
give you around 1000 runs and associated net practice, Grade 2 a
little more.
You just need to perform the tasks above and be patient and
watchful. If you do the above as laid out your bat will last
longer and perform better than an equivalent that isn't prepared
properly.
Toe guards now are completely unobtrusive and you will forget
its there. It is a must to prevent dampness from the pitch
soaking up the blade. Anti-scuff sheets are very tough, but
thin, it will save the blade from abrasion off the cricket ball,
and bind the surface further protecting the edges without
restricting the bat’s performance. Both items will go a long way
to maximizing your bats life. Any bat from Matrrixx is a quality
item, and should be cared for. Look after it, and enjoy it.
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