It’s an essential piece of cricket kit that ably does the job it was designed for. Over the centuries since the game of cricket first emerged, though, the bat’s role, and the bat itself, have evolved.
The New Zealand Cricket Museum holds one of the oldest surviving cricket bats – the Addington Bat.
Engraving on the front of the bat dates it to 1743, and reveals its place of origin as the Addington Cricket Club in Surrey, England.
1743 was the year of the earliest known match played by the Addington Club, against the London Cricket Club. Played at the Artillery Ground in Finsbury, London that July, a prize of 100 guineas was on offer for the winners. Despite representing a very small village, Addington was an exceptionally strong side during the 1740s, and won the match by an innings and four runs.
One of the first things you might notice about the Addington Bat is its interesting shape. With its thin blade and hooked end, the bat bears a closer resemblance to a hockey stick than a modern cricket bat. The curved shape was developed to combat balls bowled underarm, which was the norm in the early days of cricket. The back of this particular bat is also curved, meaning it was intended for use by a player with a right-handed stance.
In the 18th century, underarm delivery was the standard method of bowling.
These days, teams may bowl underarm only if that style of delivery is agreed to ahead of the match – a change to the Laws of Cricket that was made following the notorious Underarm Incident at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in February 1981 – but this was not so in the time of the Addington Bat.
Methods of ball delivery evolved over time; underarm was replaced by roundarm bowling during the 1770s, and by the 1860s overarm delivery had become the standard. A straight bat is a more practical option for combating a ball bowled roundarm or overarm, and so the shape of the bat also evolved – from the hooked shape seen in the Addington Bat, to a gentler curve, to the straight bat we are used to today.
In 1771, the width of a bat was also standardised. The specified 4.25 inch (10.8cm) width has remained standard for the ensuing 250-odd years. This was a consequence of cricketers trying it on with the rules – it is said that at one particular match, a batter trotted out with a bat the width of the stumps!
Later, in 1835, the law was changed to state that cricket bats could be no more than 38 inches (96.5cm) in length.
By the time cricket was first recorded in New Zealand, in 1832, straight bats had long since been standardised.
A significant variation sometimes seen in New Zealand today is the bat used in the game of kilikiti, or Samoan cricket. Kilikiti is derived from the game of cricket introduced to Samoa by British missionaries, and has spread throughout the Pacific to countries with large Polynesian populations, including Aotearoa New Zealand.
Kilikiti bats, or pate, are generally made of wood from the hibiscus or breadfruit tree, with handles wrapped in coconut husk fibre for good grip. Pate are modeled on the three-sided lapalapa (war club), which are in turn modeled on the coconut frond stalk. Pate can be up to a metre long, and the angular striking surface of the bat makes for unpredictable ball trajectories.
The earliest surviving cricket bat is believed to be from 1729, and belonged to a cricketer named John Chitty. If you happen to be passing The Oval Cricket Ground in South London, you can pop in and see it yourself.
Closer to home though, the Addington Bat, a particularly special taonga of the New Zealand Cricket Museum collection, is currently on display in the main gallery.
