Leaning on Bamboo to face the Googly

Developing the cricket bats made of bamboo which offer the similar performance as traditional willow bats, Researchers recommend the shoots as a viable substitute for willow. 

Willow has hitherto been the prime traditional material for making cricket bats for many centuries but scientists have recently come up with the more sustainable and sturdy alternative to replace it by bamboo.

Given that willow has more than 400 trees and shrubs from the Salix genus—a group of moisture-loving plants that are native to temperate and cold regions in the Northern Hemisphere but it takes about 15 years before a tree can be harvested, after which new trees must be planted.

About one third of the wood is completely wasted during bat production as the wood of willow trees tends to be brittle which also restricts its use in ornamental landscape to only a relatively few species.

According to Dr Darshil Shah, University of Cambridge who used to play for Thailand’s under-19 national cricket team and still plays for a local team, in contrast to willow,  bamboo which is actually a grass and hence it is cheap, abundant, fast growing and sustainable. besides Shoots can be grown from previous stumps and attains maturity in the matter of almost seven years.

As per the article, published in the Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology, the prototype bat blade was made from strips of bamboo shoots stuck together with a resin adhesive and formed into layers and the team was bowled over by the performance of the bat due to its  sturdiness and resonance with leather ball upon striking a ball.

But as the cricket regulations mandate the use of bat blades made of wood the implementation of the idea is at the discretion of the international regulatory body.

Cover image by Telegraph