HOW DO I CHOOSE A JUNIOR CRICKET BAT?
Traditional craftsmanship remains at the fore whilst our cricket bats are designed to meet the needs of all cricketers no matter what their age, level or playing style. With so much cricket now being packed into each year getting the right junior bat is paramount.
Junior cricket bats are designed specifically for our younger cricket players. It is essential the right bat is chosen, so many factors need to be taken into consideration including age, height, level and strength. Chase junior cricket bats are smaller and lighter than our adult cricket bats and are available in a range of weights and sizes.
Our junior cricket bats range from size 0 to Harrow. We also offer a Super Short handle and Academy size bats which help to bridge the gap between junior and senior cricket bats.
These different bat sizes have an approximate age and height guide, which you can find here.
Junior cricketers should be able to hold a cricket bat in their normal batting stance comfortably. The size of a cricket bat does not relate to its power or performance. Junior cricketers might see the massive cricket bats on TV and assume the only way you can hit sixes is with that size, however this is not the case.
As a parent other considerations must include:
PERFORMANCE/PING
When striking the face of a cricket bat with a cricket bat mallet you can feel the bat's quality in the rebound of the mallet and hear the quality of the timber in the sound that the willow makes when struck. This is the ping.
Myth - higher grade willow bats always ping better.
Truth - bats with exceptionally good ping can be found across all grades of willow.
PICKUP
Pickup describes how a cricket bat feels in a player's hands when they pick it up. It's a combination of the bat's weight, shape, and balance. How a bat picks up is more important than how much it weighs. A well-balanced cricket bat with a good pickup can be heavy but still feel light when in the player's hand. This is by far the most important factor to consider when choosing your bat.
Myth - lighter bats are always the best choice.
Truth - bats need a fair bit of weight to provide good impact against the ball. You may lose power with a bat that's too light.
PRICE
There's no reason to buy a high-end cricket bat if it's not realistically within your budget. If the bat you're considering has good pickup, good ping, is right for your style of play and you can afford it, then it's the perfect bat for you.
Myth - more expensive bats will always perform better.
Truth - you can get excellent performance out of bats at all price ranges.
WHAT THINGS ARE NOT AS IMPORTANT?
Here are a few other things that people commonly look for in a cricket bat — but they aren't nearly as important as ping, pickup and price.
GRAINS
Grain count is probably the number one most overrated feature when choosing a cricket bat. The number of grains in a cricket bat face indicate the age of the willow tree it was made from. Especially in the past, the highest-grade willow came from older trees, and so it became a rule of thumb that more grains equal a better bat. These days, the growth and production cycle of modern cricket bats means that more bats are coming from younger trees, which means more bats will have fewer grains.
What are grains good for? For one thing, they are very nice to look at. Many straight grains make for a beautiful piece of timber. Also, older willow with more grains tends to perform better early, but it may have a shorter lifespan; whereas younger willow with fewer grains tends to need more time to reach peak performance, but it usually lasts much longer.
Myth - the more grains a bat has the better it is.
Truth - the number of grains in a cricket bat face is of minor importance when compared to its ping, pickup and price.
GRAPHICS
We aren't going to tell you that a cool-looking bat isn't important at all — we work hard on designing the cricket bat sticker decals and it's important to us that they look fierce in the hands of the players who use them. But when it comes to choosing the right bat for you, keep a balanced perspective.
Myth - the stickers on a cricket bat must look fantastic.
Truth - buy a bat that feels good first and looks good second.
GRADE
Good cricket bats are almost exclusively made from English willow trees. Commonly, willow is graded by quality on a scale of grade 1 to grade 4. Grade 1 is the highest quality English willow. Higher quality willow generally has straighter grains, more consistent colour, and few-to-no imperfections.
There is no universal scale for grading willow. Many bat makers have begun using their own terms for grading their willow.
Myth - a higher-grade willow is always the better choice.
Truth - exceptional performance can be found in bats of all grades and a certain piece of willow may fall into more than one grading category depending on who is grading it.
LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS
The cricket bat you are purchasing must comply with The MCC Laws governing the maximum blade length and width.
Every cricket player's technique and style of play is different. Whilst traditional cricket bat making remains at the core of our brand, we are mindful that our cricket bats must also meet the demands of the modern game.
Chase Cricket bats are an incredible choice at all price points, offering junior cricket players exceptional quality from the premium grade 1 English willow cricket bat options to our grade 3 cricket bats.