Bamboo cricket bats … Howzat?!

Bamboo cricket bats … Howzat?!

  • Bamboo cricket bat prototype and a section of bamboo culm, by Ana Gatóo
    Bamboo cricket bat prototype and a section of bamboo culm, by Ana Gatóo

Willow has had a good innings but cricket bats should now be made from bamboo, Cambridge researchers argue.

Cambridge has had a decent knock in cricketing history. We came to the crease early, no later than 1710. We produced one of the greatest batsmen of all time in Michael Atherton (Downing), and one of its greatest commentators in Henry Blofeld (King's). We could go on but enough reminiscing.

Today, a pair of cricket-loving researchers from the University’s Centre for Natural Material Innovation have bowled the sport a magnificent googly. Dr Darshil Shah and Ben Tinkler-Davies discovered that blades made from bamboo outperformed traditional willow.

Their extensive tests on prototype laminated bamboo bats, the first of their kind, revealed they are stronger, offer a better ‘sweet-spot’ and deliver more energy to the ball.

“This is a batsman’s dream”, says Shah, a former member of Thailand’s under-19 national cricket team. “The sweet-spot on a bamboo bat makes it much easier to hit a four off a Yorker for starters.”

But this isn’t just good news for batsmen. The new study argues that bamboo could help cricket expand faster in poorer parts of the world and make the sport more environmentally friendly.

The study has attracted global media coverage, particularly in the UK, India and Australia. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, the former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan said: “I look forward to the first batsman to walk out at Lord’s carrying a bamboo bat.”

So far so good but the laws of cricket currently state that 'The blade shall consist solely of wood' and bamboo is… a grass.

In a statement, the sport’s governing body, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), said it had 'read with interest' the research and confirmed it 'will discuss the topic at the next Laws sub-committee meeting.'

The MCC emphasised that its 'role as Guardian of the Laws includes maintaining the balance between bat and ball” but also acknowledged that 'sustainability is a relevant topic … and this angle of willow alternatives should also be considered.' Read the full MCC statement.

Dr Shah says: “we think playing with a bamboo bat would be within the spirit of the game because it’s a plant-based material and cane, a type of grass, is already used in the handle.”

Find out more on the University's news site and watch this space.