What does grains in your cricket Bat mean?
When players buy a cricket bat, the first thing they obsess over is the number of grains it has. Number of grains has become like a quality check which decides the price of the cricket bat and the quality of the bat. Players are often confused about the number of grains in their cricket bats as bats with more grains fetch a high price and re expensive to afford for new players.
Grains are the vertical lines which are found in every cricket bat, these vertical lines typically determine the age of the tree from which this willow has been cut off. The older the tree, more is the number of grains in the cricket, and more the number of grains better is the stroke play. Now one important thing to notice here is that English willow bats with maximum number of grains have a very soft willow and they tend to have a short lifespan. A few wrong shot and soft willow cricket bats can easily break. As the number of grains in a bat reduces, its strength increases substantially.
Bat with 4-7 grains tend to fall in the mid-range and they are optimum for players who are playing at an intermediate level. Such bats are perfect for players who are club cricket, recreational cricket and friendly cricket matches. Until you are really playing a at a high level, prefer to buy a bat with up to 8 grains as it will be affordable and suitable for the kind of cricket you play.
We at Sport Axe get so many calls everyday where buyers enquire about the number of grains in the cricket bats and how it will impact their style of play. The truth is that number of grains does little to improve your batting, you should focus more on getting a bat with perfect balance. A bat with 7-8 grains maximum is enough for most players. Die to increasing demand for bats with up to 12 grains, the prices of cricket bats re through the roof and bats are selling from up to Rs. 1,00,000 or $1200.
Most players cannot afford such expensive bats but due to the rat race to buy bats with maximum number of grains players are often robbed by big manufacturers. So while you buy a bat don’t go for maximum number of grains, instead focus more ion the balance of the bat.