How were the quality of cricket bats in 80s different from the 90s?

[MechEng]

Did cricket bats become more meatier and big hitting friendly as we progress from 70s to 80s and then 90s? Or the quality and size of bats remained same throughout 70s, 80s and 90s? With big changes happening only 2000 and onwards.

[diga]

Dont know about 90s .. but 2015 vs 1970 there is a comparision of Barry Richards holding the bat with which he made 325 in a day for South Australia against Western Australia in November 1970. In the other, he holds the bat David Warner is using


http://p.imgci.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/227800/227831.3.jpg
.

[gakgupta]

 

Holy Moly...that's one hell of a difference....

ICC should have regulated the bats....

 

[MechEng]

@express bowling Any views on this? Did Ganguly and Tendulkar use more advanced bats compared to Viv, Greenidge and Gavaskar?

[MechEng]

Great article.

 

https://blog.betway.com/cricket/why-size-doesnt-matter-when-it-comes-to-modern-cricket-bats/

 

@maniac I have more respect for Rohit Sharma now. 

[MechEng]

But an interesting analysis would be how would Bairstow do if given Hussain or Atherton's bat from 90s? Would he be able to hit it far?

[putrevus]

it did change, the major change is sweet spot which used to be very small in 70s and has become bigger as time progressed.

[Tattieboy]

Bats did change slightly in the 70's . Gray Nicholls brought out the Scoop bat I think 1974 or 75. From that came the double scoop then slazenger had chunkier bats, the V12 and V6 . 

The SS Jumbo made famous by Viv Richards appeared in the 70's 80's 

All those bats were nothing like used today .

Prior to 1970 basically there was only Gunn and Moore and Slazenger bats or really to give them their correct term " just bits of dull wood " 

[MechEng]

1 hour ago, Tattieboy said:

Bats did change slightly in the 70's . Gray Nicholls brought out the Scoop bat I think 1974 or 75. From that came the double scoop then slazenger had chunkier bats, the V12 and V6 . 

The SS Jumbo made famous by Viv Richards appeared in the 70's 80's 

All those bats were nothing like used today .

Prior to 1970 basically there was only Gunn and Moore and Slazenger bats or really to give them their correct term " just bits of dull wood " 

Interesting point. So hitting sixes in the 70s was a complex mix of power and skill? Like today cricketers can hit the ball a long distance by raw power but sweet spots are much bigger too. Impossible to hit plenty of sixes with small sweet spot.

[Rightarmfast]

A major shift happened in late 70’s when Dennis Lillee used metal in his bat. The umpire had to stop Dennis lillee from using it further though. 

Sachin Tendulkar and Lance Kluesener were instrumental in the trend to make bats meatier and heavier. While Sachin was absolutely finicky about his bat, Kluesener used the heaviest bat of all. The results were his effortless sixes and boundaries. Since then, batsmen have been experimenting with the meat and weight of the bat.

[gattaca]

3 hours ago, MechEng said:

But an interesting analysis would be how would Bairstow do if given Hussain or Atherton's bat from 90s? Would he be able to hit it far?

It is tough especially with a bat. It very personal the weight distribution matters. If they can get exact weight distribution that someone likes then it is a fair test.

[MechEng]

25 minutes ago, gattaca said:

It is tough especially with a bat. It very personal the weight distribution matters. If they can get exact weight distribution that someone likes then it is a fair test.

So it probably all boils down to the batsman's individual style then? Even if Hussain is given the bat he's most comfortable with, he's unlikely going to go for big shots because that's not his style. And if Rohit Sharma played in the 70s, he would probably still score huge in ODIs.

 

When we say that batting has become easier, that would probably be wrong. The truth is that the game has changed completely, and big hitters of today would probably also smack the ball a long distance in the 70s.

[Tattieboy]

5 hours ago, MechEng said:

Interesting point. So hitting sixes in the 70s was a complex mix of power and skill? Like today cricketers can hit the ball a long distance by raw power but sweet spots are much bigger too. Impossible to hit plenty of sixes with small sweet spot.

A lot of it comes down to how we played the game or rather how we  were coached to play and the bats to an extent. 

We were trained to play " properly" , good defence , ball along the ground , as an opening bat if I had tried to hit a six I wouldn't have played the next game . 

Grounds were bigger in those days , boundaries were not 20 yards in. The vast majority of bats used by players were 2lb 7oz , various players started experimenting with 3 lb bats , but the weight wasn't distributed evenly like today's bats and you needed to be a strong guy to use them .

Players hit hard with timing  not high in the main , those hard hitting batsmen would be huge stars today in OdI and T20 .

Just one example from those days , Kim Hughes came out with the oldest bat you have seen and proceeded to smash sixes , in a test match he cleared the pavilion at Lord's , he wasn't a big guy it was all timing and a intent , with today's bats the good players of yesterday would still be stars with averages to match. 

The bats revelusion all started with the Gray and Nicholls Scoop , it was nothing like we had seen before , something out of Star Wars, from that each bat manufacturer  started to bring new models out for their signed up star players . 

You are correct about the sweet spot , if you didn't time the ball with the sweet spot then it was going no place unlike today even edges are sweet spots .

[Zero_Unit]

On 1/21/2019 at 9:52 PM, gakgupta said:

 

Holy Moly...that's one hell of a difference....

ICC should have regulated the bats....

 

God damn, its like nikki minaj before and after butt injection.

[MechEng]

11 hours ago, Tattieboy said:

A lot of it comes down to how we played the game or rather how we  were coached to play and the bats to an extent. 

We were trained to play " properly" , good defence , ball along the ground , as an opening bat if I had tried to hit a six I wouldn't have played the next game . 

Grounds were bigger in those days , boundaries were not 20 yards in. The vast majority of bats used by players were 2lb 7oz , various players started experimenting with 3 lb bats , but the weight wasn't distributed evenly like today's bats and you needed to be a strong guy to use them .

Players hit hard with timing  not high in the main , those hard hitting batsmen would be huge stars today in OdI and T20 .

Just one example from those days , Kim Hughes came out with the oldest bat you have seen and proceeded to smash sixes , in a test match he cleared the pavilion at Lord's , he wasn't a big guy it was all timing and a intent , with today's bats the good players of yesterday would still be stars with averages to match. 

The bats revelusion all started with the Gray and Nicholls Scoop , it was nothing like we had seen before , something out of Star Wars, from that each bat manufacturer  started to bring new models out for their signed up star players . 

You are correct about the sweet spot , if you didn't time the ball with the sweet spot then it was going no place unlike today even edges are sweet spots .

Interesting, regarding the weight of the bats you talked about I would assume that there was no gym culture in cricket before say 2000s, you had to be naturally strong to use a heavy bat. Sachin Tendulkar's bat weighed 3lbs 40oz (that big MRF bat in Sharjah knocks) and heaviest of all was used by Lance Klusener with 3lbs 53oz. Viv Richards, Greenidge, Dean Jones and Matthew Hayden used far lighter bats but could hit the ball a long distance by timing I guess.

[Straight Drive]

Bats have tremendously changed for the better to how they were in 70's and how they are nowadays. 

 

The allignment of grains is better now. The tapings too have evolved. Machine compressing to drain moisture.Sweet spots now at various lengths of the bat.

[Tattieboy]

3 hours ago, MechEng said:

Interesting, regarding the weight of the bats you talked about I would assume that there was no gym culture in cricket before say 2000s, you had to be naturally strong to use a heavy bat. Sachin Tendulkar's bat weighed 3lbs 40oz (that big MRF bat in Sharjah knocks) and heaviest of all was used by Lance Klusener with 3lbs 53oz. Viv Richards, Greenidge, Dean Jones and Matthew Hayden used far lighter bats but could hit the ball a long distance by timing I guess.

Of course we trained , but mostly batting , bowling , fielding training. Gym's with weights were no place to be seen . These guys were hugely powerful , naturally muscular . Greenings was smaller than I thought but he hit the hardest ball I ever fielded , tremendous power . It was all timing in those days for the average cricketer . 

[MechEng]

10 hours ago, Tattieboy said:

Of course we trained , but mostly batting , bowling , fielding training. Gym's with weights were no place to be seen . These guys were hugely powerful , naturally muscular . Greenings was smaller than I thought but he hit the hardest ball I ever fielded , tremendous power . It was all timing in those days for the average cricketer . 

You played cricket with Greenidge??? 

 

Are you a first class cricketer?

[Tattieboy]

12 minutes ago, MechEng said:

You played cricket with Greenidge??? 

 

Are you a first class cricketer?

I was a semi professional cricketer in an associate country which allowed me to play with and against many many fantastic Test and first class cricketers . Just lucky to have done it . 

[Khota]

6 hours ago, MechEng said:

You played cricket with Greenidge??? 

 

Are you a first class cricketer?

@Tattieboy is the real deal on this forum. Rest of us are wannabees.