Bat Toe

Surface crack or deeper?

Got a picture, if so post it in the appropriate thread in "equipment" and I'll take a look.

Sounds like cracking resulting from moisture ingress and then drying out.  How long have you had the bat for?  If you've not olied it previously it's a bit late now?  How do you store it when not playing with it?

Face protection can't protect against the natural moisture content of the bat, which will vary from time to time.  Storing a bat upright over the close-season or extended periods of little use causes the internal moisture content to concentrate at the bottom of the bat.  You should store a bat flat, face up in a cool dry atmosphere, allowing for even distribution and moisture exchange.  Many people pop them away in an airing cupboard or under the bed and wonder why they crack - you need to maintain even moisture content to keep the bat supple.  One of the reasons I dislike face protection and toe guards is the fact that people think less about the care and maintenance their bat requires.

My best advice.  Strip your bat of face protection and stickers, lightly sand it and inspect it for damage.  In the case of the toe split, inject a good wood glue, such as a PVA-based one, into the crack and clamp lightly in a vice, allowing plenty of drying time.  Sand off any overspill, you can fill any surface cracks with a mixture of glue and sawdust (from local timber merchant) in same way.  Lightly, and I mean lightly, linseed oil your bat using your fingertips on the explosed willow, but avoiding the splice (V shaped handle intersection).  Store it for a week flat with the face up in a cool dry place, repeat the oiling and storage for another week.  Dry the bat with a clean lint free cloth and apply a wrapping of good quality bat tape, fibre reinforced - but stick to white as darker colours absorb light/heat and encourage the bat to dry out.  Play with it - if the split worsens bad luck, because you have done everything you can to prolong its life, it was meant to be.

Can I suggest this thread, in its entirity, be moved to the eqipment area?


Edited by W.G. - 07 March 2007 at 9:59am

And we all know how uncomfortable mud up the crack can be!!

Seriously, a toe guard can afford some protection against impact damage (though you do wonder what protection a couple of mm of rubber affords against 60mph ball impact) but it cannot mitigate against the wood drying, and this is the cause of most cracking.  Oiling a bat is the best way to regulate the moisture content and retain suppleness - and I am concerned that the modern trend towards face-guarding and toe-guarding bats removes the average player one further step away from learning how to look after their investment in quality willow.

That's like mine SW. The glue wouldn't fit into mine. I also store my bat flat, but inside the bat case so there's no chance of water going into the toe, or mud etc.

So I should remove the bat face for good W.G? I always told myself that these things were useless!!!

Originally posted by spin wizard So I should remove the bat face for good W.G? I always told myself that these things were useless!!!   Thanks a lot for the above though!   So, anyone want a bat case to buy?

I am sure if you are playing first class cricket and/or can afford to replace bats regularly then face guards are a very good idea.  If instead you invest good money in a quality piece of willow and want/need to make it last then (in my opinion) a face guard should be removed allowing you to properly look after your bat.  That's only my opnion and I'm probably a bit 'old school' when it comes to bat maintenance ........... I had it beaten into me!!

Originally posted by W.G I had it beaten into me!!

Originally posted by W.G .....face guard should be removed allowing you to properly look after your bat.

Go with a little glue in the crack of the toe, as suggested. For added protection cover the area with shoe goo, i find this is alot better then the commercial toe guards.

Yes sorry definitley across the grain otherwise, same with removing stickers across the grain .

Originally posted by spin wizard "adhesion is very powerful and damage to surface fibers could result."

Any bat maker using glue that strong should be shot!

OK, over to the rest of you - I give up.

Is PVA WOODWORKING GLUE allowed to be used? It says its good for End Grain Gluing, so can that be used on the toe of the bat to fix up that crack, I have a couple more school games too, so should I wait until those finish before taking the extratec sheet off and completely fixing up the bat?

Hmm, okay. The crack on the toe isn't too bad, but I just thought if I fix the toe up, I might aswell take the extratec sheet off, reoil it etc, so I thought just get these few school games finished, because we got one this Friday and one next week, but I'll try fix up the toe tonight sometime.


Edited by RightHandBat - 20 March 2007 at 5:22am