Cricket bats are one of the pieces of equipment which are used by a cricketer. These are bats that are made out of wood mostly. The bats are used by the batsman in the matches to score off runs against a bowler of the opposition side. The bats though come of different types and have their own set of things that can be done from them. There are match bats and there are bats that are made for the coaches for practice drills etc. Then there are bats depending upon the kind of ball that is used to play the match with. So, what are the different types of cricket bats that you can purchase? Here is a list of those bats:
1- English Willow Bats:
The premium quality bats are made out of English willow bats. These bats are the ones that are used by top-end cricketers. The English willow bats are made from softwood found in England mostly. These bats have better stroke play when playing against a leather ball. The bats are also more enduring to faster pace bowling and don’t crack open from the edges.
2- Kashmir Willow Bats:
Kashmir willow bats are the second category of bats. The willow of which comes from the colder part of India the Kashmir valley. The Kashmir willow bats are generally used by people who are in the phase of becoming expert cricketers or are people who are practicing or playing at the school level. The Kashmir willow bats are good enough to be used to be played against leather balls. The bats are also good to be sued for soft and hard rubber balls.
3- Softball Cricket Bats:
The next category of bats is the softball cricket bats which are used mostly by players who play the softball leagues or players who play majorly with the softball made from rubber. These are bats which are made mostly from Kashmir willow, as these bats are required to be lightweight and at the same time have a good stroke play, the bats are also sometimes slotted at the back, this makes the bat more lightweight and helps the player swing the bat harder at the ball to gain more distance.
4- Practice Bats:
Practice bats are bats that are designed specifically for the coach to give the players catching practice. These are bats that are made from no specific willow type. These bats are thick at the bottom so that the hitter can have minimal effort being used to hit the ball to greater distances. The bats also tend to have thicker edges to help the coach with slip fielding.
Cricket bats have evolved in a great way from when cricket was started to now. The bats have become lighter, durable but much more powerful. The English willow is the flag bearer of the bats that are used.
