Subtlety has little place in softball cricket, box cricket as it is called when staged in net-fenced artificial turfs.
The game plan is rather simple in this ultra-miniature format of Twenty20, where matches are often played five or six-overs-a-side; swing hard and pray that it connects for a maximum every single ball. Anything less is mercilessly condemned as a failure.
Thus emerged the customised low weight bats, instantly identifiable by their unique hollowed-out design on the rear, best suited for the big-hitting that the format demands.
Anurag Babu busy customising a bat at his unit at Viyyur in Thrissur.
Akhil Sudhi and his partner Vaisakh from Neyyattinkara in Thiruvananthapuram were perhaps among the first to carve such bats out of normal Kashmiri willows about 12-13 years back. “The normal Kashmiri willow that weighs around 1,300 g is chipped down by removing wood from the backside of the bats to anywhere between 800 and 850 g. Though basic machines are used for toning down the meaty wood, it requires considerable skill to customise the willows to the unique demands, which vary from player to player. Even the brand of the softballs being used influence the customisation demands,” said Akhil who brings out bats by the brand name SevensV3.
And those demands, apart from reducing the weight, can be exhausting. Longer or shorter bat length matching the height of the player, increased width, meaty upper and lower blade, near perfect overall balance, long or short handle, greater curve at the bottom, thicker edges to name a few. Almost all who dabble in the field both sell new bats and customise pre-owned bats.
Specifications
“Depending on the specifications, some even insist on carving their names, customisation can run into hours. Hence, too many bats cannot be sold as it would disrupt the delivery of already committed ones,” said Anurag Babu from Viyyur in Thrissur who sells customised bats by the name Athidi Sports named after his daughter.
If softball cricket tournaments were few and far between in the past, their number has now soared thanks to the proliferation of artificial turfs, especially the covered ones. From leagues at the district level, there are now panchayat and even ward-level leagues. In short, the concept off season, previously marked by the onset of monsoon, has disappeared.
Word of mouth publicity
Shibu Rehan who runs a shop at Karuvelippady in Thoppumpady is not complaining as his bats, branded SR3, he claims, are being sold even in the U.K., Ireland, Canada and the Gulf countries. “Advertisements is of little value when it comes to these bats. Word of mouth publicity about quality alone helps,” he said.
Stalin N, a sought-after all-rounder in local leagues around Vennala, knows whether he likes a bat when he holds it. “A short handle with only little extension beyond the grip is a must to avoid hurting the wrist when playing straight. Wider face cuts down the risk of nicking behind and a better curve at the bottom helps to deal with yorkers better. The hitting area on the bat face should be meatier for generating more power,” he said.
