Pro's don't pay for bats, so they don't care if they break - they just pull another one out of their bag.
I would suggest to use an older stick as most manufacturers will not warrant bats damaged with signs of heavy bowling machine usage.
Tripe
Bola balls are softer than cricket balls but the issue is not how hard the ball is. Most bat breakages happen in nets due to the fact that you are hitting a ball much more often than in a match situation - maybe a ball every 10 seconds on average rather than every 30 seconds...
Willow is obviously a natural material and needs to 'recover' once hit. If you do not allow for the timber to 'recover' then the fibres are more likely to break.
Then take into account that, when using a bowling machine, you are more likely to be hitting the same part of the face of the bat (when practising the same shot) then this is when real problems start to occur. Either ensure you allow time for your bat to recover before hitting the next ball or use a bat more suited for this situation. As a coach I can also say that taking a few extra seconds to consider the shot you've played will also help your practice sessions.
Cheers, Andy
Guess i should stop launching my lignum vitae mallet at bats when knocking them in then. Jason from Hammer Cricket, Gary from B&S and others with a knocking in machine slamming a teflon ball into the bat at high velocity should pack up and stop offering their service too.
Not meaning to come across hostile, but there is a lot of misinformation on the forum, and this thread particularly.
The ONLY risk to your bat when facing a BOLA is the combination of a hard surface and the players decision to drive at a yorker. I refuse to set our machine up to bowl very full for this reason.
To re-iterate. A bowling machine, a knocking in machine, a bat mallet, all great ways to knock a bat in. Unless you are very unfortunate, you aren't going to do much knocking in of your toe/edges on a BOLA. But once edges and toe are sorted with mallet/machine and the middle has had some attention, apply a scuff sheet and hit the nets to face a BOLA.
Based on some opinions in this topic, i'm questioning whether i should actually use my new bat, or simply mount it in a frame and hang on the wall. Other than avoiding a new cricket ball for as long as you can during the early days of owning your bat (and cheap balls altogether if you can) you should use your bat at every opportunity, enjoy it, score some runs with it. Eventually after (hopefully) a lot of use and runs it will let you down, what with it being made from a living thing. Then the fun can begin again shopping for a new one
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Topic: Using a New Bat Against a Bowling Machine (Read 10464 times)