The grandfathers of cricket – the Marylebone Cricket Club – have announced revisions to a number of rules and regulations within the great game, and among those changes has been the limitations on bat sizes. But why do such a thing?
The MCC have brought in new size restrictions on the batsman’s weapon of choice to be introduced as of October 2017.
The new dimensions will allow players to reach a maximum size of 108mm in width, 67mm in depth with edges no thicker than 40mm. This has been done in an effort to “redress the balance between bat and ball.”
But who cares about this perceived “balance?”
The most popular form of cricket around the world is T20 cricket, a format defined by big sixes and high scores in a short amount of time. It’s what brings in the casual fans and families. It’s exciting and the people of the cricketing world love it.
So why would the MCC want to put the proverbial leash on that?
If a batsman can’t wield a piece of willow that will send the white ball onto the rooftops of grounds around the world, then his stock will diminish in the eyes of an increasingly large domestic T20 circuit.
Bats being reduced in size has the potential to lessen the number of sixes and runs scored, leading to the reduction of exciting action-packed cricket, a loss of fans, and the death of cricket.
Alright, that could be a little over the top, but you get the point.
Whatever your position on the matter, runs and boundaries make for exciting cricket and that’s what people want to see.
The size of a bat shouldn’t impact a good bowler at all. There is no imbalance due to bat sizes because if a bowler is good enough, then they should be able to dismiss the batsman regardless of how much wood he has in his hands.
A big bat won’t make a difference if he’s beaten by an inswinging yorker or trapped plum in front. It’s just being used as an excuse for when a bowler is spanked to the ropes when they bowl a bad ball.
Not to mention is takes away from the batsman who must contain a lot of skill, temperament and power to hit a six at the top level. It’s just being shrugged off as “it’s the size of his bat” not “that was a really good shot.”
If you are all for bats being reduced in size, don’t come back complaining when the Big Bash is not quite as good next season.
Matthew H
Guest
The baseball guys hit huge shots (120+ metres) with limited size round bats. What we want is the best putting on a show. If the smaller bats mean that less talented batsmen can't simply slog I'm all for it.
Wayne
Roar Guru
The edges going for six is the problem. Good shots will still get rewarded. Like a few people have said, bringing the rope on 20+ meters is the problem.
Nick
Guest
MCC have no idea what they are talking about. When you reduce a bat from 55mm edges to 40mm, where do you think the excess wood will go? It will stay on the bat of course. Instead of concaving you will get fuller profiles or even convex profiles like the Newbery Tour. The wood will be put along the blade, creating more forgiving toes (warner bats have weedy toes as the wood is compressed into the hitting zone) and further up the blade. You'll basically be creating a more forgiving bat that pings all the way up the blade, and still across thanks to the 40mm edges. We'll see more Jumbo type profiles and clefts on a stick. The pro's will still clear the boundaries easily, because they are pushed in 20 yards thanks to regulations. The MCC have made is harder for the bowler to get catches via mis-hits off the lower and upper parts of the bat - way to go!
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
Reduce the thickness and edge size of cricket bats or build larger grounds so that significantly mishit shots can't fly over the ropes. Batsmen are aided by protective equipment, the limit of short balls per over so its about time the bowler deceiving a batsman doesn't watch a shank clear the ropes. Or do we need all pitches to look like the Pune test pitch to have any kind of contest?
davSA
Guest
It's not just bat size. Like tennis racquets the technology in modern bats means a far larger "sweet spot "so yes as the previous comment mentioned a mistimed hit can bring full reward often. I'm just not convinced you can turn the clock back . Be like saying lets play tennis with same racquets as McEnroe and Borg played with. It fundamentally changes the Nature of the game. The major manufacturers cant be too happy either and due to the vast money they invest in evolving technology to remain competitive in the marketplace as well as vast amounts of money put into cricket worldwide any opinion they have must matter.
Tony Tea
Guest
The trouble with big bats is that they reward sh1t shots by enabling edges and mishits to reach the boundary.
Swanny
Guest
Get rid of the big bats . It's cheapened batting and cricket in general. Being able to slog and miss hit the ball for six should not be rewarded.
Rabbitz
Roar Guru
I am not a fan of the big bats but I am not sure this will achieve anything. A bigger concern is the shrinking boundaries. The rope is moving ever closer to the wicket. The cynic in me says it might be to fit in extra advertising signs...
The Bush
Roar Guru
Your name gives you away Devil! This is great news. It'll be interesting to see if it makes any real changes - are a few players that the public perceive to be hidden blodders behind giant bats going to be exposed or has this all been overblown? The next step should be to increase the size of the boundary ropes. I get the need to keep off the fence. But surely safety is achieved with 5 metres, as opposed to 25 metres?
Atawhai Drive
Roar Guru
Bats will still be fat, they just won't be quite as fat. The new limit on the depth of a bat is 67mm. David Warner's Kaboom now has a depth of 85mm, according to a reliable source. The width of a bat has been set at 108mm from October, which is the same as it is now under Law 6. Some bats in current use have 55mm edges. That will change to 40mm, which is quite a difference. The limit had to be set somewhere. It's difficult to see cricket, or at least the T20 version of it, becoming any less a batsman's game.
Bumsy
Roar Rookie
I say keep 'em but also bowlers get to use a two piece and the bowling team can nominate 2 fielders to keep a minty and a bottle cap each in their pockets.
Harvey
Guest
They should also legalise ball tampering. Tamper with it all you like, but it is yours for 80 overs regardless.
Josh Barton
Roar Pro
The thing that annoys me the most is that I currently own a bat that is now illegal that I spend a good deal of money on. Whilst I understand there is going to be a grace period with the rules, at some point my bat is going to be illegal and I won't be able to use it. I typically own bats for many years, so this is frustrating, as its only young.
Paul D
Roar Guru
I think the commonness of sixes has devalued their appeal. Scarcity is a currency of its own.