Hi All,
Apologies if this has been noted before, but I came across an interesting article about bat size being a psychological prop. It centres around a discussion with Chris King, head batmaker at Gray Nicolls. I assume many of the opinions/ facts come from Chris, but could be wrong on that point.
I found one section (below) of particular interest, suggesting that the knocking in process actually helps 'undo' the pressing (de-laminate), rather than my perception of knocking in increasing the pressing (ie knocking in compresses the fibres further, hence dents in the surface which eventually becomes the norm over the whole blade during the knocking in process) -
''...The process of pressing hasn't changed significantly. Modern bats are pressed just slightly less. As the bat is used, the fibres that have been pushed together begin to separate in a process called delamination. In the early stage of delamination the bat reaches its peak, when the ball will feel as though it is trampolining from the face. Cook and Ramprakash, the last generation to have grown up with their bats pressed slightly harder, still prefer to play a bat in themselves in the nets, where they feel the delamination begin. It's an unfamiliar concept now, when bats are effectively already beginning to delaminate before a ball has struck the face, and no longer need as much "knocking in"', the age-old job that used to start the process. ''link to the full 2014 article here-
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/787773.htmlNext question - Do (pro) players or bat makers know best, what makes a better bat?
Current pro bats may be good for between 200- 1,000 runs, but presumably there is quite a lot of net practice with the same bats, to add to the 'workload' before the typical pro bat comes to the end of its useful life.
Lots of food for both thought and discussion.
David
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Topic: Chris King (GN) article (Read 11630 times)