AN undated handout image shows Darshil Shah tests out a bamboo bat. AFP
LONDON: Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) said late on Monday it would discuss research that suggests cricket bats made from bamboo could provide a cheaper alternative to the traditional willow.
The Cambridge University study said its prototype bamboo bat was cheaper to produce, more sustainable and stronger than willow blades and could grow the game worldwide.
The article, published in the Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology on Sunday, also found the laminated bamboo bat possessed a larger sweet spot, making it ‘a batsman’s dream’.
However, the London-based MCC the conservative custodian of cricket’s laws must approve any change to the material used to make bats from wood, with bamboo a type of grass.