T20 craze inspires bat that clobbers balls from both sides

As cricket is changing by the day, so are the paraphernalia. A new bat is in the making which would enable a batsman to hit with both the sides.

The back of the bat could be used to defuse full-length yorkers often employed by bowlers in Twenty20 cricket to restrict scoring options. With the back of the bat in play batsmen figure they can reach forward and “lap” it up over their shoulder to the undefended boundary behind first slip.

Stuart Kranzbuhler, the bat maker, said that but young hitters, looking for an advantage in Twenty20 cricket, are already interested in the new blade.

“It’s a pretty unconventional shot [you play off the back] so I think true batsmen won’t even look at doing something like that. It would really be a player that’s developed himself purely for Twenty20 cricket who would play that sort of shot,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Kranzbuhler as saying.

He said NSW all-rounder Dave Warner (22) has already expressed his desire to use the bat. Warner said he would definitely try the new bat. “I will actually give them a ring. I’m sponsored by them. I’d love to give it a go,” he said.

Kranzbuhler said that the new bat would meet current ICC specifications and could be made without reducing hitting power from the front. Pressing the back would make it about 10 millimetres thinner. “We’ve looked at having an area on the back of the bat that’s pressed as well [as the front], just in the centre area. That’s as far as we’ve got and we’ve made a few prototypes but they look pretty rank,” he said. (ANI)

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