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[Beachcricket]

Personally think over oiling is worse. Sounds strange but I smell the bat, it has a distinctive smell (or not as the case may be) when it's dry. Each bat is unique, my last bat drank linseed oil by the pint and my current bat has been oiled once in 18 months (oh dear I should probably do that or it might go the same way as Colesy's Arytek).

[procricket]

i do not oil a bat i wack a scuff sheet and hey presto.

I expect a bat to last a season no more no less except my trusty which is in 3 bit and glued together

[tim2000s]

i do not oil a bat i wack a scuff sheet and hey presto.

I expect a bat to last a season no more no less except my trusty which is in 3 bit and glued together

The Pro approach...

[procricket]

No mate i hate the stuff bud after i killed a kookaburra from Intersports(not many will remember) when i was 11 with oil i will not touch the stuff.

Oil only makes the wood less responsive if you ask me but gives you longer life

[tim2000s]

Sounds strange but I smell the bat, it has a distinctive smell (or not as the case may be) when it's dry.

I love the smell of Linseed in the Morning!

[Alvaro]

No mate i hate the stuff bud after i killed a kookaburra from Intersports(not many will remember) when i was 11 with oil i will not touch the stuff.

Oil only makes the wood less responsive if you ask me but gives you longer life

I got a pair of gary lineker quaser football boots from Intersports... this was back before he was orange, mind you.

[RoCo Da Pixie]

I do a very light coat, But wont oil the bat that much

[Colesy]

i do not oil a bat i wack a scuff sheet and hey presto.

The death of my Ayrtek

[tim2000s]

The death of my Ayrtek

Did it snap horizontally across the middle? Seen a few bats go like that this season, mainly from CA.

[Colesy]

No mate shoulder snapped off courtesy of 1s opening bowler, taped that back on then the toe went.

[Buzz]

Sounds strange but I smell the bat, it has a distinctive smell (or not as the case may be) when it's dry. Each bat is unique, my last bat drank linseed oil by the pint and my current bat has been oiled once in 18 months

I also go for the sniff test, usually I think it is relatively obvious if a bat needs some oil. For me, this is the answer some bats need more oil than others - having said that these days I will put a cover on the bat (Usually a Romida one).  I will oil a new bat (other than where I have put the cover on) to seal it, but not a massive amount. I would typically put on about a 2p size dribble of oil on the back and rub that in then a little more around the toe area. At the start of a season I will oil the toe of the bat, but not the rest of it, unless I think it is a bit dry.

I tend to think that Asian bats need a bit more oil that UK bats - this may be a sweeping statement, I appreciate not everyone will agree with me on this - but this is because they are typically drier than a uk bat and as the climate is different here to Asia they need to be protected from the moisture more.

On a slightly differnet note I will also always change the grip after preseason nets and before the start of the season.

[Colesy]

Agree with you Buzz, Asian bats I've had have been dryer.

I normally run my hand across the face to feel how dry it is then smell it, love the smell of linseed oil

I change a grip whenever lol

[tim2000s]

I normally run my hand across the face to feel how dry it is then smell it, love the smell of linseed oil

That's my technique as well. you can feel whether the bat is dryer than it should be.

On the ones that I've seen snap this season, 3 were Asian, 1 was English. All four were a couple of seasons old.

[SkipperJ]

This has probably been asked before, but how do you tell that a bat has been over-oiled?

I usually go by the color of the blade. If it looks too white, that usually indicates dryness. If it looks yellowish or moist, I figure it's been oiled enough. Of course, have to do this relative to the original color of the blade. Also run my fingers along the blade, a well oiled one feels a bit different (smoother? slicker?) than a dry blade.

[tim2000s]

I know what you mean about the feel. An overly dry blade has almost a particulate texture to the wood, as though you might get splinters from it.

Can't say I know what an overly oiled blade feels like as I tend towards less oil rather than more.