Tripura has emerged as the front-runner in manufacturing cricket bats made of bamboo, which, some experts believe, is a more sustainable option than the traditional willows.
With the new alternative having caught the fancy of the cricketing world, the northeastern state, which grows the grass in abundance, is planning to cash in on the opportunity with bamboo bats manufactured indigenously, by means of a unique glue-board technology.
A research institute in Agartala, which is a part of the Centre-affiliated Bamboo and Cane Development Institute (BCDI), has recently made bamboo bats, taking a cue from a study conducted by scientists at the University of Cambridge, and presented samples to H G Cricket Company in Meerut and Virender Sehwag Cricket Academy in Delhi.
Arun Sharma, the director of the Agartala-based North East Centre for Technology Application and Research (NECTAR), along with a team of BCDI officials, also met Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb to showcase the product the institute has manufactured.
Deb took to Twitter and said, “Greetings to BCDI & NECTAR team for providing a platform to #Tripura’s artisans, for creating cricket bats, & cookies made from #Bamboo. Such initiatives will further our efforts to achieve PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji’s vision of optimising the #GreenGold for #AatmanirbharBharat.”
According to Sharma, the Meerut firm has also maintained that bamboo bats are better than willow plates in more ways than one.
“We manufactured the bat in Tripura as bamboo grows in abundance in this region. If these bats could capture the domestic market, the economy of the region would receive a boost and the local artisans would be immensely benefitted.
“The process to manufacture these bats involves crushing of bamboo slices, mixing the crushed bamboo with glue and some other materials to form a block, which then is given the shape of a cricket bat,” he said
The new bat is stiffer, heavier, and has a bigger sweet spot, Sharma claimed
It is 38% superior to willow bat, which has no uniform density, he explained.
The sweet spot is the point on a cricket bat from where the ball receives maximum acceleration.
“The stumps, too, could be made from a special variety of bamboo called kanak kaich, which has a hollow lumen inside. It won’t be difficult to make stumps, Sharma added.
Secretary of Cricket Association of Tripura Timir Chanda, when contacted, said the bamboo bat concept sounds good but it would not be right to make a comment as “I have never quite seen it”.
According to the laws of the cricket, bats need to be solely made of wood.
Therefore, in order for bats manufactured from bamboo to get international acceptance, regulations will have to be amended.