WO2016103209A1

WO2016103209A1 - A cricket bat and method of training

Info

Publication number: WO2016103209A1
Application number: PCT/IB2015/059925
Authority: WO
Inventors: Neil Isaacs
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2014-12-23
Filing date: 2015-12-23
Publication date: 2016-06-30
Anticipated expiration: 2017-06-23
Also published as: GB2549899B; GB201711650D0; GB2549899A; ZA201704950B

Abstract

This invention relates to a batting training apparatus, particularly a cricket bat and method or training. The cricket bat in accordance with the claimed invention has an elongate handle and a blade attachable thereto along a longitudinal axis of the bat. The blade comprise an impact front surface and an opposite rear surface provided between a pair of lateral edges of the blade, wherein a region adjacent one lateral edge or half of the blade has a greater mass than an opposite lateral edge or half of the blade. In this way, striking of a ball by a batsman with the region of greater mass to the outside of the player causes internal rotation of the back upper arm and pronation of the back forearm as well as external rotation of the front upper arm and supination of the front forearm of the batsman thereby facilitating training of the batsman.

Description

A CRICKET BAT AND METHOD OF TRAINING

FIELD OF INVENTION

THIS INVENTION relates to a batting training apparatus, particularly a cricket bat and method or training.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Change cricketing climate, particularly the move toward shorter, high scoring cricket matches have resulted in the move toward thicker cricket bats with thick edges which assist batsmen in hitting boundaries more readily. However, it is noted by the Applicant that though the thicker bats assist batsmen to score boundaries more easily, conventional cricket bats and training equipment don't do enough to train and/or improve bat handling or batting technique. For example, training apparatuses of the type to assist batsmen to locate the so-called "sweet spot" on the bat do not necessarily assist them in training bat handling technique which may arguably be of importance in being able to bat better.

It is an object to address this drawback associated with conventional cricket bats and training equipment and/or provide an alternative to same.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a cricket bat having a longitudinal axis, the bat comprising: an elongate handle; and an elongate blade attachable to the handle along the longitudinal axis of the bat, the blade comprising an impact front surface and an opposite rear surface provided between a pair of lateral edges of the blade, wherein a region adjacent one lateral edge or half of the blade has a greater mass than an opposite lateral edge or half of the blade. The region with greater mass may be provided at least adjacent a sweet spot of the blade of the bat.

The region with greater mass may extend longitudinally along the length of the blade.

In one example embodiment, a ridge or spine may be formed in the region with greater mass, and wherein the ridge has a thickness, between the front and rear surface, greater than the thickness of any other portions of the blade. The ridge may extend longitudinally from approximately one third of the way from a shoulder of the bat and fades or reduces in thickness towards the toe of the bat

It will be appreciated that the ridge may be thickest adjacent the sweet spot of the blade to provide the addition mass adjacent the one lateral edge or half of the blade.

The blade may be provided with a pair of spaced regions of greater mass than the middle portion of the blade so as to increase the moment of inertia about a rotation axis about the longitudinal axis of the apparatus. In one example embodiment, the regions of greater mass may be substantially similar such that the apparatus is symmetrical. However, in other example embodiments, an operative outside edge or outside half of the apparatus is of greater mass than an opposite operative inner edge or inner half of the apparatus.

A region adjacent the opposite lateral edge (opposite the region with greater mass) may be concave and/or angled, and the region with greater mass is convex and/or angled such that the region with greater mass is thicker than the region adjacent the opposite lateral edge. The impact front surface is slightly convex or has a bow.

The one lateral edge with more mass may be angled toward the rear surface thereof.

The region with greater mass may be between 20 to 50 percent of the total mass of the blade located adjacent the sweet spot of the blade. In one example embodiment, the region with greater mass may be approximately 30 percent of the total mass of the blade located adjacent the sweet spot of the blade. Notwithstanding, different configurations may be achieved to provide the imbalance between lateral edges and/or halves of the bat which hence provides the desired batting and/or batting training effect which is described herein. It will be noted that the weighting of the apparatus essentially renders the same unbalanced. To this end the bat may be configured for a left handed, or right handed batsman such that the region of greater mass is provided to an outside or off stump of the batsman, in use. For ease of reference, it will be appreciated that the one lateral edge may be understood as the lateral edge which is adjacent or closest to the region of greater mass, wherein the opposite lateral edge may be understood a the lateral edge opposite the one lateral edge.

The handle of the bat may be located closer to the opposite lateral edge. According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of training a cricket batsman, the method comprising: providing a cricket bat as described above such that the region with greater mass is provided at an outside of the bad and the batsman as the batsman operatively faces a bowler; presenting a ball to be impacted by the impact surface of the cricket bat; and causing internal rotation of the back upper arm and pronation of the back forearm as well as external rotation of the front upper arm and supination of the front forearm of the batsman, due to the region with greater mass of the cricket bat, as the batsman swings at the ball presented thereto. This may be initiated with rotation of the hips, trunk, and shoulders and rotation of the arms and forearms would add to the momentum.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provide a blade for a cricket bat, the blade having a longitudinal axis and comprising an impact front surface and an opposite rear surface provided between a pair of lateral edges of the blade, characterised in that a region adjacent one lateral edge or half of the blade has a greater mass than an opposite lateral edge or half of the blade.

The blade may comprise attachment formations for attaching the blade longitudinally to a handle, for example, by way of adhesives, glues, etc.

The region with greater mass may provided at least adjacent a sweet spot of the blade as described above. The region with greater mass may extend longitudinally along the length of the blade, between a shoulder and toe of the bat, similarly as described above.

A ridge may be formed in the region with greater mass, and wherein the ridge has a thickness, between the front and rear surface, greater than the thickness of any other portions of the blade.

The ridge may be thickest adjacent the sweet spot of the blade.

The ridge may extend longitudinally from approximately one third of the way from a top of the blade and fades or reduces in thickness towards a toe of the blade.

In other words, the blade may be substantially similar to the blade of the bat as described above.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a blade for a cricket bat, the blade having a single longitudinal ridge in a midline axis of the rear of the bat with a more concave or less convex inner half and a more convex or less concave outer half.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS shows a rear perspective view of an example embodiment of a cricket bat or cricket training apparatus in accordance with an example embodiment illustrating sections at X-X and Y-Y; shows a front perspective view of an example embodiment of a cricket bat or an apparatus in accordance with an example embodiment; shows a rear perspective view of another example embodiment of a cricket bat or an apparatus in accordance with an example embodiment illustrating sections at X-X and Y-Y; shows a top section of the cricket bat or apparatus in accordance with an example embodiment of the invention, in use, facing an incoming ball;

Figure 4 shows another top section of the cricket bat or apparatus in accordance with an example embodiment of the invention, in use, facing an incoming ball;

Figure 5 shows a rear perspective view of another example embodiment of a cricket bat or cricket training apparatus in accordance with an example embodiment illustrating sections at X-X and Y-Y; Figure 6 shows a front and side view of yet another example embodiment of a cricket bat or cricket training apparatus in accordance with an example embodiment; and

Figure 7 shows section views of the bat of Figure 6 at A-A, B-B, C-C, D-D, and E-E.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of an embodiment of the present disclosure. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details.

In Figures 1 , a cricket bat or a cricket training apparatus in accordance with an example embodiment of the invention is generally indicated by reference numeral 10. The apparatus 10 is typically in the form of a cricket bat or cricket training bat used to train cricketers, particularly batsmen so as to improve their batting technique as will be described below. The bat 10 may be constructed predominantly from wood, for example, willow. However, this is not necessarily always the case as the bat 10 may be constructed from synthetic materials such as plastics, or combination of synthetic and natural materials.

The bat 10 is similar to a conventional cricket bat in that it has an elongate handle 12 and an elongated blade 14 attachable to the handle along a longitudinal axis A of the bat 10. The handle 12 may be attachable to the blade 14 via a splice and suitable adhesive, as is conventionally the case, and may comprise suitable dampeners to dampen vibration associated with ball strikes to the blade 14 of the bat, in use. Moreover, though not illustrated, it will be noted that the handle 12 may be clad with a removable rubber sheath or sleeve so as to provide better grip of the bat 10, in use. The blade 14 of the bat 10 is similar to conventional cricket bat blades in that it has a slightly convex impact front surface 16 or a generally rectangular profile and an opposite rear surface 18, typically spaced by a pair of lateral edges 20, 22. However, a major difference between conventional cricket bat blades and the blade 14 is that there provided a region 26 adjacent lateral edge 20 that has a greater mass, and thickness, than at least the middle portion 28 of the blade 14 and the opposite lateral edge 22 or half of the blade 14 so as to increase the moment of inertia of the bat 10 about an axis of rotation centred around the handle 12 and/or the longitudinal axis A of the bat 10, in use. In addition, if the bat is rotated around the internal edge, the moment of inertia will be greater. In this respect, though not shown, the handle 12 may be offset toward the edge with less mass, for example, slightly such as one centimetre, or in some example embodiments, completely.

It will be noted that the configuration of the bat 10 is for a left handed batsman as the region 26 will be outside the batsman, in use, i.e., generally adjacent the off stump or off side of the batsman. For right handed batsman the region 26 will be adjacent the opposite lateral side 22.

To provide the additional mass, the rear surface 18 is provided with a ridge or spine 30 extending in the region 26, wherein the ridge 30 has a thickness greater than then thickness of any other portions of the blade 14. Though the ridge 30 may in some example embodiments be provided adjacent the sweet spot of the blade 14 only, in the present example embodiment, the ridge 30 typically extends longitudinally along the blade 14 as illustrated. Preferably, the ridge 30 would be on the lower two thirds of the blade. However, it will be noted that the thickness of the ridge is greatest adjacent the sweet spot of the blade 14 with the thickness decreasing toward the shoulder of the blade 14 and towards the toe of the blade 14 or would fade at the junction of the top one third and lower two thirds of the blade 14. The difference in thickness of the ridge 30 may be seen from the section through an area adjacent the shoulder of the blade 14, at Y-Y, and a section through an area approximately around the sweet spot of the blade 14, at X-X, in Figure 1 a.

In example embodiments where the bat 10 is not used for training purposes only but during cricket matches, etc., the edge 20 may optionally be substantially concave or reduced in a convex or angled manner, preferably by 20 to 30 degrees so as to minimise the likelihood of a ball impact to the edge 20 (due to the increased thickness of the edge 20).

It will be understood that by providing the ridge 30, the mass of the region 26 is desirably increased. However, in other example embodiments, it will be understood that the mass of the region 26 may be increased in a plurality of different ways, for example, by embedding or attaching a denser or heavier material, such as steel, in the region 26.

In some example embodiments, instead of ridges, the halves of the blade 14 may be suitably convex or concave to provide the offset mass distribution toward one half or lateral side/edge of the blade/bat. In another embodiment the ridge will be highest in the middle of the bat or along the longitudinal axis with a more convex or less concave outer half and a more concave or less convex inner half of the rear of the blade.

Referring now to Figure 2 of the drawings where another example embodiment of a training apparatus or cricket bat is generally indicated by reference numeral 50. The bat 50 is substantially similar to the bat 10 described above and thus similar parts will be referred to by the same reference numerals.

A notable difference between the bat 10 and bat 50 is that bat 50 comprises two spaced regions 26 and 52 provided on the rear surface 18 of the blade 56 of the bat 50 of greater mass than the middle region 28. To this end, the regions 26 and 52 are similar in that they comprise similar ridges 30 and 54, respectively. However, it will be noted that the ridges 30 and 54 are of different thicknesses such that the blade 56 is non-symmetrical through a section thereof. The difference in thickness of the ridge 30 and ridge 54 may be seen from the section through an area adjacent the shoulder of the blade 56, at Y-Y, and a section through an area approximately around the sweet spot of the blade 56, at X-X, in Figure 2. Like the bat 10, the ridges 30 and 54 are thickest and thus heaviest adjacent the sweet spot of the bat 50 and less so adjacent the shoulder and toe of the bat 50.

In one example embodiment, the ridge 30 may have seventy five percent of the combined mass of both ridges 54 and 30 combined.

In yet a further example embodiment, the ridge 30 may have about ten to thirty percent more weight shifted to adjacent the sweet spot of the bat 50, preferably 12,5 percent. In addition, in one example embodiment, the ridge 30 may have twenty to thirty preferably twenty nine percent more mass than the rest of the blade. Differently stated, the ridge 30 may be twenty to thirty percent thicker than the corresponding opposite ridge or half of the bat 50.

It will be noted that the provision of the additional ridge 54 serves merely for balance as the moment of inertia about the rotational axis of the bat 50 is still increased as compared to a conventional cricket bat. The ridges may be reduced gradually to the middle of the bat in an arch effect. In Figure 5, another bat 200 in accordance with an example embodiment is illustrated. The bat 200 is similar to those described above, particularly bat 10 but the ridge or spine 30 of the bat 200 is shifted from the middle (as the case in a conventional bat) to slightly off-centre or to a location in one half of the bat 200 such that the half of the bat in which the ridge 30 is located has a greater mass than the other opposite half as can best be seen at the sections X-X and Y-Y. The bat 200, like those above, is thickest adjacent the sweet spot thereof and less so toward the shoulder and toe of the bat 200.

It will be further appreciated that the bats described above may be configured for a left or right-handed batsman, wherein the half with the greater mass is matched to be on the outside of the bat for the left and right-handed batsmen. In other words, the bat may be constructed with the half or lateral edge with greater mass on one half and on an opposite half as well to cater for a left or right-handed batsman, as explained above.

In use, referring to Figures 4 and 5 with reference also to Figures 1 to 3 and 5 above, the bat 10, 50, 100, 200 may be used as a training bat or as a bat in a match. In any event, particularly within the training context, it will be appreciated that due to the higher moment of inertia associated with the bats 10, 50, 100, 200 batting form is trained, especially use of upper and lower arms. For ease of explanation, reference will be made to bat 50 in Figures 3 and 4. However, in Figures 3 and 4, bat 50 is configured for a right handed batsman such that the ridge 30 is provided on the outside or off stump/side of the batsman facing the ball.

A batsman (not shown) facing a bowler or a ball 60 bowled thereto as in Figure 4 generally does so with the impact surface 16 of the bat 50 facing the ball 60 with the ridge 30 with greater mass located on the outside of the batsman, wherein the direction of travel of the ball 60 is transverse to the longitudinal axis A of the bat 50. In attempting to strike the ball 60, the batsman with a conventional cricket bat grip on the handle 12 of the bat 50 raises the bat 50 and swings the bat 50 downward toward the ball 60 in a curve with the front shoulder of the batsman forming the top of a lever to the toe of the bat 50. On the back lift or swing of the bat 50, the bat 50 would be rotated 90° due to the weight or mass distribution of the bat 50 such that the outside edge (opposite inside edge C) would be at the top of the swing. As the bat 50 is swung downward towards the ball 60 for impact therewith, the greater mass associated with the ridge 30 causes rotation of the bat 50 about the longitudinal axis A of the bat 50 in the direction of arrow B or in other words rotation is caused towards the inside edge C of the bat 50. The full face of the bat 50 is seen at impact and rotated further around. In other words, the extra weight on the outside edge and/or half of the bat 50 would aid the moment of inertia in the swing till the bat was back to the full force position of impact. The downswing will occur with the blade rotated to an angle in line with the path of the swing to cut the air in a knife-like fashion as mentioned in the downswing and backlift. Preferably, the wrists will be cocked and the stretch reflexes of the hips, trunk, shoulders and arms will all be invoked sequentially on the backlift for all shots. The wrists will be cocked with the hands moving along the path of the swing. It will be noted that as the bat is brought around, the elbows of the batsman may be extended, thus increasing the power of the shot as the weight of the bat will be further away from the axis of rotation. Before impact, the bat will be rotated with cocked wrists increasing the radius of impact from the line of the forearms. If the pace is too quick for rotation, the ball may be paddled with an open face and glanced rather than struck forcefully off the face of the blade.

The feet should be placed in a manner that the point of impact would be between the shoulders for power. However, if rushed the face may be directed behind the back shoulder to run the ball down to third man.

In any event, it will be noted that the increased moment of inertia of the bat 50 in the down-swing causes essentially trains the natural rotation of the hips and shoulders of the batsman by causing the urging or facilitating internal rotation of the back upper arm and pronation of the forearm, as well as external rotation of the front upper arm and supination of the front forearm of the batsman. The encouragement of the desired movement by way of the bat 50 trains the batsman to maintain desired batting form when batting by training motor and muscle memory. It will be appreciated that the rotational axis of the bat 50 may also be around the inside edge C of the bat 50, in use, with similar desired effects.

It will be noted that the lower the bottom hand is on the handle, the more it would help in rotation as well as moving the bat around a point between the hands, rotating the bat in that plane along the line of the shot. If the hands were close together, that would inhibit the rotation around the point between the hands (moment of inertia) and the lower hand would help more with the swing (and rotation

The hips, trunk, shoulders, upper arms and forearms would all be stretched and the power added onto one another with continued rotation on the downswing after the backlift.

Moreover, it will be noted that the grip is important for the rotation of the bat at impact. If the top hand of a right handed batsman, has a grip with a watch facing midoff, the rotation of the bat at impact will be limited as the left wrist will be at the end of supination and rotation will be done with rotation of the trunk and shoulder. Preferably, the hands should hold the bat midway between the extremes of supination and pronation of the forearms.

This may be explained as the hands rotating from palm up in extreme supination to pronation 270 degrees with the palms facing outwards. The grip ideally would be midway or what feels natural.

The rotation of the bat would continue through the ball on impact on the follow through until the bat passes above the left or front shoulder along the line of the shot.

Once the front shoulder had opened at impact (instead of being more parallel with the back shoulder in the line of the shot at impact in the traditional method of coaching), this would increase the moment of inertia from the front shoulder to the line of the ball and path of the straight bat. With the more mass on the outside half of the bat, the moment of inertia around the radius of the front shoulder is increased. This will increase the power of the shot.

In one example embodiment, the added weight on the outside edge would be at the top edge of the bat when lifted vertically, and the weight of the heavier outside edge would aid in the rotation of the bat with gravity on the downswing. In this regard, it will be noted that the bat will have linear energy mainly from the swing from the left shoulder, but also obtain kinetic energy from the rotation of the bat anticlockwise for the right hander batsman.

The path of the bat will be enabled to flow along the path of the ball at this point if the front shoulder is opened out from the line of the ball which is aided by gravity rotating the blade.

This is extremely difficult to do in the traditional method of coaching, if the hands and wrists are restricted to keeping the face of the bat at 90° to the path of the ball till impact as the shoulders are kept more in line with the path of the ball and any rotation of the bat at impact takes the bat out towards the offside away from the line of the ball. This is due to the lower forearm attempting to rotate and if the wrist is cocked, it will bring the bat to the offside. The right wrist will have to straighten from the cocked position (turning the face of the bat more upwards increasing the risk of a catch), to keep the bat in line of the path of the ball, thus losing the moment of inertia around the forearm. In any event training a batsman in this manner, will naturally cause rotation of the shoulders and hips.

Turning to Figure 6 and 7 of the drawings where another example embodiment of a cricket bat is generally indicated by reference numeral 300. The bat 300 is illustrated from a section point of view in Figure 7 at A-A, B-B, C-C, D-D and E-E. The bat 300 is substantially similar to the previously discussed bats and thus same or similar parts will be referenced by the same reference numerals. In particular, the bat 300 has a handle 12 and a blade 314, wherein there is provided a spine 330 adjacent one lateral edge thereof. The length LH of the handle 12 of the bat 300 is approximately 29.5cm whereas the length LB of the blade portion 314 is approximately 55.5cm. It will be noted that the Figures 6 and 7 are not to scale.

Turning to Figure 7, it will be noted that at A-A, the bat has a thickness of T, at its lateral edge, of approximately 5cm, and a breadth B1 of 2.4cm, B2 of 8cm, and B3 of 0.4cm, within regulation. It will be appreciated that the scoop provided in the bat extended to approximately 2.5cm into T. In one example embodiment, the thicker spine portion 330 may have a mass and/or thickness which is up to or more than 75% of the total mass of the blade 314 of the bat 300. However, this may be decreased somewhat depending on whether the bat 300 is being used for training purposes or for match purposes, in the case of the latter the percentage of mass in the spine 330 may be lower than 75% or about 10 percent to 15 percent at the sweet spot.

At B-B, the bat 300 has a thickness T of approximately 2.5cm, and thickness T2 at a middle/interior portion of the bat 300 of approximately 3cm.

At C-C the bat 300 has a lateral thickness of approximately 2.5cm, and thickness T2 at a middle/interior portion of the bat 300 of approximately 3cm.

At D-D the bat has a thickness T of approximately 1 .9cm, and thickness T2 at a middle/interior portion of the bat 300 of approximately 2.5cm.

At E-E the bat 300 has a lateral thickness T of approximately 1 .3cm, and thickness T2 at a middle/interior portion of the bat 300 of approximately 3cm. The use of the bat 300 is substantially similar to that described above with reference to the previously discussed bats.

The present invention provides a means of encouraging training and/or development of the biometrics of a cricket swing thereby to improve batting performance of a batsman in the game of cricket. In particular, the invention assists in training a cricket player to develop a rotary technique of batting, assisting them to be able to hit the ball harder. In particular, the moment of inertia is decreased at the beginning of the swing, partly due to the bat and gravity but also because the bat is picked up like a knife which also decreases the moment of inertia. In other words, the moment of inertia is decreased at the beginning of the swing but is maximized at impact. This gives the batsman more time to play his shot which is crucial in cricket. It also increases bat velocity at impact with obvious advantages as alluded to above. In other words, the moment of inertia is decreased at the beginning of the swing but is maximized at impact, with gravity as well helping the rotation and momentum of the bat before impact.

Claims

1 . A cricket bat having a longitudinal axis, the bat comprising: an elongate handle; and

5 an elongate blade attachable to the handle along the longitudinal axis of the bat, the blade comprising an impact front surface and an opposite rear surface provided between a pair of lateral edges of the blade, wherein a region adjacent one lateral edge or half of the blade has a greater mass than an opposite lateral edge or half of the blade.

2. 2. A cricket bat as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the region with greater mass is provided 10 at least adjacent a sweet spot of the blade.

3. A cricket bat as claimed in either claim 1 or 2, wherein the region with greater mass extends longitudinally along the length of the blade.

4. A cricket bat as claimed in claim 3, wherein a ridge or spine is formed in the region with greater mass, and wherein the ridge has a thickness, between the front and rear

15 surface, greater than the thickness of any other portions of the blade.

5. A cricket bat as claimed in claim 4, wherein the ridge extends longitudinally from approximately one third of the way from a shoulder of the bat and fades or reduces in thickness towards the toe of the bat

6. A cricket bat as claimed in either claim 4 or 5, wherein the ridge is thickest adjacent 20 the sweet spot of the blade.

7. A cricket bat as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein a region adjacent the opposite lateral edge is concave and/or angled, and the region with greater mass is convex and/or angled such that the region with greater mass is thicker than the region adjacent the opposite lateral edge.

25 8. A cricket bat as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the impact front surface is slightly convex or has a bow.

9. A cricket bat as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein one lateral edge with more mass may be angled toward the rear surface.

10. A cricket bat as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the region with greater mass has between 20 to 50 percent of the total mass of the blade located adjacent the sweet spot of the blade.

1 1 . A cricket bat as claimed in claim 10, wherein the region with greater mass has 5 approximately 30 percent of the total mass of the blade located adjacent the sweet spot of the blade

12. A cricket bat as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the handle of the bat is located closer to the opposite lateral edge.

13. A method of training a cricket batsman, the method comprising:

10 providing a cricket bat as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12 such that the region with greater mass is provided at an outside of the bat and the batsman as the batsman operatively faces a bowler; presenting a ball to be impacted by the impact surface of the cricket bat; and causing internal rotation of the back upper arm and pronation of the back forearm as 15 well as external rotation of the front upper arm and supination of the front forearm of the batsman, due to the region with greater mass of the cricket bat, as the batsman swings at the ball presented thereto.

14. A blade for a cricket bat, the blade having a longitudinal axis and comprising an impact front surface and an opposite rear surface provided between a pair of lateral edges of

20 the blade, characterised in that a region adjacent one lateral edge or half of the blade has a greater mass than an opposite lateral edge or half of the blade.

15. A blade for a cricket bat as claimed in claim 14, wherein the blade comprises attachment formations for attaching the blade longitudinally to a handle.

3.

16. A blade for a cricket bat as claimed in either claim 14 or 15, wherein the region with 25 greater mass is provided at least adjacent a sweet spot of the blade.

17. A blade for a cricket bat as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 16, wherein the region with greater mass extends longitudinally along the length of the blade, between a shoulder and toe of the bat.

18. A blade for a cricket bat as claimed in claim 17, wherein a ridge is formed in the 30 region with greater mass, and wherein the ridge has a thickness, between the front and rear surface, greater than the thickness of any other portions of the blade.

19. A blade for a cricket bat as claimed in claim 18, wherein the ridge is thickest adjacent the sweet spot of the blade.

20. A blade for a cricket bat as claimed in either claim 18 or 19, wherein the ridge extends longitudinally from approximately one third of the way from a top of the blade and fades or reduces in thickness towards a toe of the blade.