MCC World committee calls for reduction of bat size by 20mm

Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting brought up this topic last week when he said the bats are getting too thick giving the batsmen “a big advantage”, he asked for the size to be regulated especially in test cricket. Though the Marylebone Cricket club (MCC) world cricket committee was not unanimous in agreeing to this, if the law gets passed it could be introduced by October 2017.

The World Cricket Committee, which consists of 12 former international players, met on Monday and Tuesday to discuss this issue at Lord.

"The time has come to restrict the size of the bat edges and the overall depth of bats. It was pointed out to us that, in 1905, the width of bats was 16mm; by 1980 it had increased to 18mm. It is now an average, in professional cricket, of 35-40mm and sometimes up to 60mm. That shows how fast the change has been", said Mike Brearly, chairman of the committee, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo.

"If people think it’s becoming an unfair advantage people will speak their opinion," David Warner hit back defending the new law about the size of the thickness of the bats being reduced. He added that "But we’re getting bigger and stronger as well, we’re capable of using those bats that are a bit heavy.”

"From my point of view in Tests I use a smaller bat, unless I’m in the subcontinent when I use a heavier bat. My heavy bats might be a lot larger than other players’ bats, but it’s still the same cleft of wood." Warner added. According to him the imbalance of the bat and the ball is not because of the thickness but because of the pitches getting flatter.

The ability of bat- makers to produce bats with thicker edges using denser wood which does not add extra weight, giving the batsman access to huge but light bats. "I don't mind it (big bats) for the shorter versions of the game," Ponting said last week.

He also added "I would actually say you've got a bat you can use in Test cricket and a certain type of bat you can use in one-day cricket and T20 cricket. The short forms of the game survive on boundaries — fours and sixes — whereas the Test game is being dominated too much now by batters because the game is a bit easier for them than it was."

The world cricket committee will seek the help and talk to manufacturers and scientists about the exact details of the law, the current updates of the law if finalised will come out on October 2017, making the 2017-18 Ashes series that are played in the summer in Australia will be the first test match played under these new laws.