THE BAT.
The regulation size of the bat, called by Felix the mighty sceptre of delight, is 38 inches in length, of which 25 inches are taken up by the pod, or, according to the more modern term, the blade, and 13 by the handle.
No bats are made longer than this, although, of course, they are allowed to be of various smaller proportions, in order to suite the height of the player.
We must strongly impress on all young players the great importance of using a bat in proportion to their strength. If they use a very heavy bat, they will not be able to move it quickly enough to play the ball properly, and are apt, in consequence, to get into a sluggish style of play, which is almost sure to stick to them all their lives. A very light bat is equally injurious: the batsman sees an easy ball approach, plays hard at it, when, instead of going right over the head of long-on, it drops an easy catch into mid-wicket’s hands, in consequence of there not being enough driving power in the bat to send it further.
