Cricket's law-keeper MCC rejects idea to use Bamboo bats instead of traditional willow

The Marylebone Cricket Club, the guardian of cricket laws, has rejected the idea of replacing cricket bats made from willow with bamboo citing that it was illegal as per the current laws. As per Law 5.3.2, the blade of the cricket bat shall consist solely of wood.  A statement released by the MCC regarding the usage of bamboo for bats stated that the Law would need to be altered to allow bamboo specifically, as even if it were to be recognised as a wood, this would still be illegal under the current law, which bans lamination of the blade, except in junior bats.

MCC rejects use of bamboo as alternative to willow to make bats

A University of Cambridge study had suggested the usage of bamboo as a sustainable alternative to willow despite being brittle as it was stiffer, harder and stronger. Sustainability is a relevant topic for MCC and indeed cricket, and this angle of willow alternatives should also be considered, MCC's statement read. MCC said that it had worked hard to ensure that bats weren't too powerful, taking steps in 2008 and 2017 to limit the materials and the size of the bats for this purpose. The Guardian of cricket laws will discuss the topic at the next Laws sub-committee meeting, as per its statement.

Bamboo an alternative to willow?

The study, which was published in The Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology, says that bats carved out of bamboo can be made thinner than willow bats because the material can withstand higher loads. This means that the batsmen could use lighter bats, which should help them in swinging the bat even quicker in the air. The researchers also found bamboo to be stiffer than willow, which makes the ball go faster when it leaves the bat. Traditional cricket bats are usually compressed to harden the surface and when the team of researchers applied the same process on a bamboo bat, they found the sweet-spot area to be performing better. As per the study, the sweet-spot area on the bamboo bat performed 19% better than those on willows. 

Dr Darshil Shah, who was part of the research, said the bamboo bat makes it easier for batsmen to hit boundaries off a yorker. He also added that a bamboo bat is as comfortable as a traditional willow because the vibration levels on both materials are somewhat similar, meaning both materials transfer a similar amount of force to a player's hands when they strike the ball. The replacement of willow bats with their bamboo counterparts would also tackle the shortage of bats across the world. A traditional willow takes nearly 15 years to fully mature in England, whereas bamboo matures twice as fast.