I think it was just a knee-jerk reaction, probably to something. Because the bats are checked by the umpires in the dressing room and they go through a measuring gauge.
But every player has multiple bats, so maybe the suspicion arose that the bat that was checked and the one that was used were different.If I look at the past history, Dennis Lillee used an aluminium bat because it was damaging the ball.
There have been a lot of innovations, but some were stopped by the ICC.Like the carbon fibre tape, which Ricky Ponting used, or the graphite edges which don’t allow the snickometer to grip.Everyone wants to get ahead, but everything should be fair.
The size of the bat prescribed by the ICC is also a bit confusing. The length should not exceed 38 inches, the width should also be within a limit, and the edge cannot be more than 4 cm.Nowadays players prefer heavier and bigger bats because everyone’s power center is different.
If I am playing in India, I want the heavier part of the bat at the bottom..But if I am playing in Australia, then I need that same heavy part on top because the ball hits the bat differently there.
Every player has his own preferences—the weight of the bat, its lift, its feel are all different. This weight also varies according to the player’s form and season. For example, Azhar used a very light bat and Sachin’s bat weighed about 3.2 kg, but that too was within the rules.
If you want to show that the power or advantage that batsmen are getting should be reduced, then it is okay. Because nowadays batting has become very dominant and bowlers have become slaves. But for this you can give an extra bouncer to the bowlers.
Let the batsmen do what they are doing. These days, no big player will try to cheat. Yes, someone might go into the grey area, but unless he is getting some big advantage out of it, it doesn’t make any sense.
I have seen some players use mongoose bats, and that was allowed as there was no ban on it. Recently in a match the umpire forbade a bat, but it was later approved again.
