Bat Care & Maintenance.

Correct care and maintenance of your Cricket Bat.

The first thing to remember when you purchase your new bat, is that the blade is crafted from wood, not just any wood, but a soft willow wood!  Island Bats are shaped and pressed to a tried and trusted method, it will ensure the willow retains enough natural softness to drive and play well.  Retaining degrees of softness in the wood will inevitably result in dents, marks and cracks to the surface of the blade and edges.  Knocking-in the bat will help alleviate cracks and marks appearing in the face and we recomend you spend at least three hours (depending on how hard the bat has been pressed) knocking-in the face and edges.  The time spent will not only make the bat last longer, but will also improve its perfomance.  Knocking-in the bat is an essential first step after making your purchase, never be tempted to bat first and knock-in later.  Despite a thorough knocking-in, a bat will suffer some sort of damage when the ball strikes either the toe or sides; resultant damage should not be attributed to faulty bats.  Crazing cracks to the face after constant use and sometimes when knocking-in, is normally a good sign the willow is at its best and should have a sweeter middle.

Because we only sell English Handmade Bats made from the best English Willow, we guarantee every bat we sell and deal with any repair that may occur sympathetically.  Should the damage have occured due to mishandling the bat, we still undertake to repair at no more than the cost involved with time and materials.

Oiling the bat when purchased new.

Natural faced bats can be lightly oiled with raw linseed oil all over, except for on or near the splice, as this will weaken the glue between the willow and the handle.  In case of a natural faced bat fitted with an antiscuff pad, we would still advise a light oiling, after initial knocking-in, avoid immediate area covered by the antiscuff.  If any person recomends heavy oiling of a bat, then you are receiving bad advice, over oiling will destroy the natural softness of the wood, which in turn will produce either a dead middle or badly affect performance.  Always keep the bat dry, never leave lying in wet grass and keep toe clean.  Repeat oiling to the toe as necessary.  Glue cracks as they appear on edges or toe.  Keep toe dry and clean.

Full instructions on knocking-in are supplied with every bat purchased or click on 'contact us' from the menu to request a copy.