Baz’s bat guide: Knock on wood

Kent Cricket retail manager Barrie Dyer continues his kit guide with the third part of his guide to buying the best bat by talking about preparing your blade for putting bat on ball.

Once you have purchased your cricket bat, you will then need to prepare your bat before you can use it. The two stages are called oiling and knocking in.

All cricket bats, unless they are fitted with a protective face will need to be oiled to protect the bat. A small amount of raw linseed oil is added to the edge, back and face of the bat. Over oiling will make the bat heavier and could damage the bat.

All bats also need to be knocked in before using it. Knocking in is a process where you hit the face of the bat with a bat mallet with progressive force.

Knocking your cricket bat in is effectively ensuring that the wood of the bat is compact as the fibres are compressed and knit together I recommend this process should last a minimum of 6 hours.

When you believe you have completed the knocking in, test your bat against an old used Cricket Ball. If after a few hits the seam of the cricket ball mark your bat, I recommend you knock your bat in for at least another hour. If the bat shows no marks, congratulations, you are ready to use your new bat.