Law 6 (The bat)
1. The bat
The bat consists of two parts, a handle and a blade.
2. Measurements
All provisions in sections 3 to 6 below are subject to the measurements and restrictions stated in Appendix E.
3. The handle
(a) One end of the handle is inserted into a recess in the blade as a means of joining the handle and the blade. The part of the handle that is then wholly outside the blade is defined to be the upper portion of the handle. It is a straight shaft for holding the bat. The remainder of the handle is its lower portion used purely for joining the blade and the handle together. It is not part of the blade but, solely in interpreting 5 and 6 below, references to the blade shall be considered to extend also to the lower portion of the handle where relevant.
(b) The handle is to be made principally of cane and/or wood, glued where necessary and bound with twine along the upper portion.
(c) Providing 7 below is not contravened, the upper portion may be covered with materials solely to provide a surface suitable for gripping. Such covering is an addition and is not part of the bat. Note, however, 8 below.
(d) Notwithstanding 4(c) and 5 below, both the twine binding and the covering grip may extend beyond the junction of the upper and lower portions, to cover part of the shoulders as defined in Appendix E.
4. The blade
(a) The blade comprises the whole of the bat apart from the handle as defined above. The blade has a face, a back, a toe, sides and shoulders. See Appendix E.
(b) The blade shall consist solely of wood.
(c) No material may be placed on or inserted into either the blade or the lower portion of the handle other than as permitted in 3(d) above and 5 and 6 below, together with the minimal adhesives or adhesive tape used solely for fixing these items, or for fixing the handle to the blade.
5. Covering the blade
All bats may have commercial identifications on the blade. Type A and Type B bats may have no other covering on the blade except as permitted in 6 below. Type C bats may have a cloth covering on the blade. This may be treated as specified in 6 below.
Such covering is additional to the blade and is not part of the bat. Note, however, 8 below.
6. Protection and repair
Providing neither 4 above nor 7 below is contravened,
(a) solely for the purposes of either
(i) protection from surface damage to the face, sides and shoulders of the blade or
(ii) repair to the blade after damage material that is not rigid, either at the time of its application to the blade or subsequently, may be placed on these surfaces. Any such material shall not extend over any part of the back of the blade except in the case of (ii) above and then only when it is applied as a continuous wrapping covering the damaged area.
(b) solid material may be inserted into the blade for repair after damage other than surface damage. Additionally, for protection from damage, for Types B and C, material may be inserted at the toe and/or along the sides, parallel to the face of the blade.
The only material permitted for any insertion is wood with minimal essential adhesives.
(c) to prevent damage to the toe, material may be placed on that part of the blade but shall not extend over any part of the face, back or sides of the blade.
(d) the surface of the blade may be treated with non-solid materials to improve resistance to moisture penetration and/or mask natural blemishes in the appearance of the wood. Save for the purpose of giving a homogeneous appearance by masking natural blemishes, such treatment must not materially alter the colour of the blade.
Any materials referred to in (a), (b), (c) or (d) above are additional to the blade and not part of the bat. Note, however, 8 below.
7. Damage to the ball
(a) For any part of the bat, covered or uncovered, the hardness of the constituent materials and the surface texture thereof shall not be such that either or both could cause unacceptable damage to the ball.
(b) Any material placed on any part of the bat, for whatever purpose, shall similarly not be such that it could cause unacceptable damage to the ball.
(c) For the purposes of this Law, unacceptable damage is deterioration greater than normal wear and tear caused by the ball striking the uncovered wooden surface of the blade.
8. Contact with the ball
In these Laws,
(a) reference to the bat shall imply that the bat is held in the batsman’s hand or a glove worn on his hand, unless stated otherwise.
(b) contact between the ball and either (i) the bat itself
or (ii) the batsman’s hand holding the bat
or (iii) any part of a glove worn on the batsman’s hand holding the bat
or (iv) any additional materials permitted under 3, 5 or 6 above shall be regarded as the ball striking or touching the bat or being struck by the bat.
© Marylebone Cricket Club 2013
Appendix E (The Bat)
Categories of bat – Types A, B and C are bats conforming to Law 6, sections1 to 8 inclusive. Bats which do not qualify for any of the three categories are not recognised in the Laws. Type A bats may be used at any level. Bats of Type B or Type C and any other bats may be used only at or below levels determined by the Governing Body for cricket in the country concerned.
The blade – The face of the blade is its main striking surface. The back is the opposite surface.
The shoulders, sides and toe are the remaining surfaces, separating the face and the back. The shoulders, one on each side of the handle, are along that portion of the blade between the first entry point of the handle and the point at which the blade first reaches its full width.
The toe is the surface opposite to the shoulders taken as a pair.
The sides, one each side of the blade, are along the rest of the blade, between the toe and the shoulders.
Adhesives – Throughout, adhesives are permitted only where essential and only in minimal quantity.
Materials in handle – As a proportion of the total volume of the handle, materials other than cane, wood or twine are restricted to one-tenth for Types A and B and one-fifth for Type C. Such materials must not project more than 3.25 in/8.26 cm into the lower portion of the handle.
Binding and covering of handle –The permitted continuation beyond the junction of the upper and lower portions of the handle is restricted to a maximum, measured along the length of the handle, of
2.5 in/6.35 cm for the twine binding
2.75 in/6.99 cm for the covering grip.
Length and width-
(a) The overall length of the bat, when the lower portion of the handle is inserted, shall not be more than 38 in/96.5 cm.
(b) The width of the bat shall not exceed 4.25 in/10.8 cm at its widest part.
(c) Permitted coverings, repair material and toe guards, not exceeding their specified thicknesses, may be additional to the dimensions above.
Length of handle – Except for bats of size 6 and less, the handle shall not exceed 52% of the overall length of the bat.
Covering of blade – The cloth covering permitted for Type C bats shall be of thickness not exceeding 0.012 in/0.3 mm before treatment as in 6.6(d).
Protection and repair of blade – The material permitted in 6.6(a) shall not exceed
0.04 in/1 mm in thickness. In 6.6(a)(ii), the repair material shall not extend along the length of the blade more than 0.79 in/2 cm in each direction beyond the limits of the damaged area. Where used as a continuous binding, any overlapping shall not breach the maximum of 0.04 in/1 mm in total thickness.
In 6.6(d), the use of non-solid material which when dry forms a hard layer more than
0.004 in/0.1 mm in thickness is not permitted.
Toe and side inserts – The wood used must not be more than 0.3 in/0.89 cm in thickness.
The toe insert shall not extend from the toe more than 2.5 in/6.35 cm up the blade at any point.
Neither side insert may extend from the edge more than 1 in/2.54cm across the blade at any point.
Toe protection – The maximum permitted thickness of protective material placed on the toe of the blade is 0.12 in/3 mm.
Commercial identifications – These identifications may not exceed 0.008 in/0.2 mm in thickness. On the back of the blade they must occupy no more than 50% of the surface. On the face of the blade, they must be confined within the top 9 in/22.86 cm, measured from the bottom of the grip.
© Marylebone Cricket Club 2013
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