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Bat Care

Maintenance Tips

Caring For Your Bat

The de Lacy name on a cricket bat is your guarantee of quality and assurance that your bat is hand crafted from the finest Willow Blue Australia cleft and the handle is the finest Sarawak cane. Our blades are not bleached white. Each blade holds its own natural characteristics providing strength and rebound to your bat.

A child cricketer relaxing with his custom made de Lacy cricket bat

Looking After Your Bat

Australian climatic conditions are harsh. It is important to care for your cricket bat:

  • Do not leave your bat in the boot or back seat of your car for long periods or leave it out in the sun as it will dry out. This may cause the timber to split.

  • Excessive oil will add unnecessary weight, may spoil driving power or even cause wood rot, so only use light coats of raw linseed oil to rejuvenate the blade. Do not oil the splice.

  • Do not expose your bat to wet or damp surfaces, particularly the base of your bat. If it gets wet, this will cause swelling and cracking.

  • Cheap cricket balls can damage your bat. Quality blades are designed to give the best results against good quality leather balls.

  • Do not press your bat in a pressing machine; it is unnecessary and will damage your bat.

  • This bat is not guaranteed against use with bowling machines.

  • Respect your bat. Throwing your bat or hitting the ground with it purposefully will cause damage to both your bat and your cricketing reputation. This type of damage is easily recognisable and will not be covered by de Lacy Cricket.
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Knocking In Your Bat

To ensure your bat is ready to play, we recommend knocking in your bat following the procedure below:

  • Apply 1-2 light coats of raw linseed oil (available from your local hardware store) with a soft rag to the face, toe, sides, and back of the bat, keeping oil away from the splice. Apply it at intervals so that each coat has time to dry. Too little is better than too much. Leave the bat horizontal during the drying period. We suggest 1 light coat to the back and 2 to the face of the bat.

  • After the initial oiling is complete, play the bat in with an old leather cricket ball or ball mallet (available at sports stores). At various intervals, bone the face and edges (buy a beef shin bone from the butcher, cook it up, remove the meat and when it is cool use the bone to rub the face and side edges of the bat; this is a traditional way of hardening the wood however is optional). Knocking in the bat should take around 2-3 weeks with consistent but careful work of around 15 minutes a night. Test the bat out in the cricket nets by hitting an old leather ball. If it still is getting indents, continue the knocking-in process. This is a tradition for you to pass on to the next generation of cricketers.

  • Once you have completed playing in the bat, you may at various times find the bat drying out or losing moisture. We suggest a light sand with very fine sandpaper up and down the grain, never across, followed by a light oil with raw linseed oil to moisten the face of the bat. This should also be done before storing the bat at the end of the season.
A finished de Lacy bat laying in the grass - ready to be sent to it's new owner in Gippsland