Cricket Bat Care and Maintenance TipsWritten by Ian Canaway
You should oil your new cricket bat using linseed oil before you begin to it knock-in.Firstly lightly sand surfaces of cricket bat with a fine grade of sand paper. Then apply 2-3 light coats of oil to all exposed surfaces of bat, allowing sufficient time for bat to dry between coats, usually overnight. It’s best to avoid oiling your cricket bat if it already has an artificial coating. Also don’t stand bat in oil as this can cause bat to soften and be more prone to damage. Once you have oiled your bat and it has dried out, you can then begin to knock-in your new cricket bat. After a match always check over your bat for signs of damage, such as cracking or splitting of wood. You can repair damage by sanding and cleaning damaged area, then using super glue or cricket bat tape to repair any small surface cracks. During off season, avoid storing your new cricket bat in a dry/warm location. Particularly avoid storing your bat in direct sunlight or rooms in your house where there are artificially high temperatures, as this will cause bat to dry out. At end of season if is often worth applying another light coat of linseed oil and again at start of next season. But don’t over oil as you may end up weakening willow.
| | Cricket Tips: Visualisation: The Key to Cricket Success?Written by Ian Canaway
An excellent cricket tip I picked up is power of visualisation. It is a skill which is often neglected by cricketers. For batsmen, bowlers and fielders at any level of game it is an important skill that should be mastered.Visualisation or guided imagery is a very powerful technique that can help increase both your efficiency and effectiveness in achieving your cricket goals, whether it would be scoring one hundred runs, playing a perfect cover drive or taking that vital wicket or catch. “You must see your goals clearly and specifically before you can set out for them. Hold them in your mind until they become second nature.” --Les Brown-- All top class athletes utilise visualisation to mentally rehearse what they have to do and how they are going to achieve it. By doing this they train their minds and bodies to actually perform skill as effectively and efficiently as possible. For example, before batting Ricky Ponting will have visualised every stroke and shot in his many inning’s this season which have netted him an average of over one hundred so far this season. When you begin to use visualisation techniques, you want to mentally create a vivid scene in you mind of your wanted outcome. You want this scene to be as detailed and clear as possible, you need to be able to see, feel and smell your success. Actually visualise your success, picture yourself taking that critical wicket or scoring that winning run. Visualise whatever you want your desired situation to be, how it feels, what your emotions are, imagine being in situation and succeeding.
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