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Assessment of performance parameters of a series of five ‘historical’ cricket bat designs

The performance of five different bat designs, from different eras spanning from 1905 to 2013, was assessed to address the question whether the changes in bat design over the years have resulted in a performance advantage to the batsman. Moment of inertia and ‘freely suspended’ vibration analysis tests were conducted, as these physical properties have been directly associated with rebound characteristics of the bats. Results showed that changes in the blade’s profile such as distribution of the blade’s weight along the edges and closer to the toe have resulted in a clear performance advantage of the newest bats in comparison with older designs. These results add to the weight of evidence in cricket that the game has changed to the benefit of the batsman and additional changes to bat design are conceivable as modern engineering tools are applied to further optimise performance.