I’ve finally been able to settle on a new match bat for this season (it’s only taken about 6 months!). Anyway, I’ve chosen a BDM Limited Edition, weighing 2 Lb 8 Oz. It’s a really nice straight, clean cleft and looks awesome. Big edges, fairly low middle, bowed blade - everything you’d expect really. The pictures will explain it better than me!

I’ve already oiled it and started knocking in, so hopefully I’ll be using it this weekend.

BDM LE Front

BDM LE Grain

BDM LE Profile

BDM LE Edge

BDM LE Back

BDM LE Face

We have just received our latest shipment of BDM Titanium Batting Pads, and they are ready to dispatch.

Additionally we have added the SG Maxilite XL Batting Pads to our range, which are another ultra lightweight, two strap batting pad. These will be added to our store shortly.

Heartwood or Redwood is the darker willow, which is from the centre of the willow tree. It has a lower sap content than the white outer wood “sapwood”, and so is slightly drier and harder.

Many people suggest that heartwood provides better performance, with a potentially reduced life span. But with proper care, longevity really shouldn’t be a problem.

A Cricket Bat Blade - Sapwood on the left, Heartwood (Redwood) on the right

There are several different types of wood used in Cricket Bats, the two major types are Kashmir Willow and English Willow. Kashmir Willow is native to India and Pakistan, and grows in the wild. On the other hand English Willow (Salix Caerulea or Alba Var), used in the manufacture of cricket bats, is grown in plantations specifically for cricket bats. It may sound stupid, but English Willow is grown in England - Willow grown outside English is NOT English Willow.

How to tell the difference between English & Kashmir Willow

On inspection English Willow will be much whiter than Kashmir Willow, and will have more well defined or obvious grains. Kashmir willow also tends to have a red/brown colour to it and its grains will tend not to be particularly straight or uniform, due to the growing conditions.

Below are examples of both English and Kashmir Willow, the Kashmir Willow bat is poly coated.

English Willow

Kashmir Willow

Performance of English and Kashmir Willow

English Willow is the best material to use in a Cricket Bat. It is much softer than Kashmir Willow, and thus has much better performance. Additionally Kashmir Willow is dryer and more brittle than English Willow.

The splice of a cricket bat is the area where the handle is fitted to the blade. On most bats the splice is covered up totally by the manufacturer or brands stickers. When oiling a cricket bat, it is recommended to avoid oiling the splice. The splice forms a V shape, pictured below;

Cricket Bat Splice

What is Concaving on a Cricket Bat?

Concaving in cricket bats refers to the back of the bat, between the edges and spine being planed to result in a concave (curved inwards) surface. This technique has recently become much more popular with bat makers and cricketers alike.

What does Concaving do?

Concaving reduces the weight of a cricket bat whilst maintaining its profile. It redistributes wood toward the center of the bat by removing wood from the surrounding area. This results in bats with larger (physically) middles than those crafted without concaving.

Concaved Spine

We’ve finished migrating the Nitro Cricket Website and Shopping Cart to our new server. The move was prompted by 500 Internal Server Errors being displayed frequently, so hopefully they’re a thing of the past now! Our new hosting provider is based in Melbourne, so page loading times should also be much faster.

There were a few issues with the migration, which may have affected our email service. So if you haven’t received a reply to an inquiry, please resend the email.

We’ve just updated our postage costs using a maximum fixed cost delivery for orders Australia wide via Regular or Registered Post. Now the most you’ll ever pay for regular delivery Australia wide is $15.00! International postage costs have also been included in this update, take a look at the new rates here.