So cricket really isn’t my sport but my eldest son who’s 9 is really enjoying it, since Rugby and Football have stopped.
He’s nearly 10 and unlike his father is a big lad. I bought him a fairly cheap size 5 Kookaburra bat. It’s a little big but my theory was it would last him next year. However, he’s going to be doing winter nets so I thought I’d at least consider getting him something a little better. It’s the last season before hard ball and it’s so heavy he decided to use a plastic bat yesterday.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
If he's starting hard ball he'll need a helmet, pads and gloves, unless the club provide, but last couple of seasons that's not been COVID friendly obviously so own kit easier. And probably a decent bag to put it all in.
Loads of online retailers or second hand. Bats probably okay to be honest. Don't need to spend a fortune.
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Depending on where you are based Hockey and cricket near Salisbury are great
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Mate of mine Oxfordshire Cricket Bats
https://www.facebook.com/oxfordshirecricketbats/
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Speak to your Club they should have spares and stuff for kids to use at that age. Once settled in hard ball and enjoying it then you can pick some further kit up
I bought my eldest a really nice New Balance bat when he was 9... size 5 I think. Used it a for a few weeks before we decided it was way too heavy for him. He's 11 now, not a small boy, and it's still too heavy!
His new bat was from a place round the corner from us in Essex... Worsop Stebbing.
The advice they gave me was that he should be able to hold the bat out straight in his no-dominant hand without his arm shaking... Having a nice heavy bat is great if you're Chris Gayle or MS Dhoni but for a beginner it's about the worst thing you could do!
You could see if any older children in the club have redundant junior bats?
Similar story here for our son, started with an inexpensive Kookaburra bat that turned out to be far too heavy. Tried out a few others in a shop and ended up with a lighter Newbery batOriginally Posted by Meesterbond
Where are you based there are great artisan bat makers all over the country. They can help you get the right bat for your lad. Balance and pick up of the bat is key, Paul Aldred in Derbyshire makes some great bats and pick up much lighter than the weight. World Class willow make some lovely bats too, Millichamp and Hall, Newbury, Keeley, Buffalo and loads of others. Go and visit them and try a few and they will help you.
They are more expensive but will last long and he will get a better ping off the bat and full value for his shots. Like anything it’s worth spending a few quid to get something decent. Most of the big names bats are poor, thin weak handles, poorly pressed
Most of the bat control should be done with the non-dominant hand, so I think this is good advice.
I know as much about cricket as I do about football (soccer), but damn, some of those bat are expensive for basically a round baseball bat someone ran over with a truck to flatten :).
Then there's a knocking fee
Due to the size. Need a lightweight hardwood which is why willow is used rather than something like hard maple which would really be heavy
Info says that knocking is done to compress the grain on the face to make it harder
Interesting, but come on. $1300 bats because you slap some players name on it and sold as a replica (meaning it's not even really the actual bat the player uses)
USA prices
DON
I guess everyone has their own budget, but I agree, £300 on a bat for a 10 year old just starting out seems pretty OTT to me.
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Probably going to make a few people cringe but when my 2 sons used to play cricket, they also found the bats too heavy so I took a wood plane and sand paper to the bats. Shaved off the back of the bat and even trimmed down the length to suit then reshaped it back to the original profile.
They used these dad meddled bats for a few seasons until they grew to need full size bats where there’s more choice so were carefully chosen by them.
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