Cricket is a package full of entertainment. Excitements, game changing moments, awesome feats, acrobatic catches – you name it and cricket has it. But despite all of these, sometimes, the talking point of a match becomes something else. There have been instances in cricket matches when rather thn using general gears, cricketers have used things that made news. Here is a list of top five such things.
5. Shoulderless bat :
Kiwi cricketer Lance Cairns started this trend while he walked in with his Excalibur made by Newbery. The bat, more known as caveman’s club, had no shoulders and helped him score 2 great feats. While his team was in trouble with a score-board of 48-8 against Otago, Cairns came out to bat at number 9 with his excalibur and scored 110 runs making the score-board better with 173. Another remarkable innings with this bat was that of a 21 ball century hit in Melbourne in an ODI.
4. Skull caps :
It was a fun sight for the spectators when then England captain Mike Brearley cme out to bat with everything very usual except the helmet. Known as Skull cap, the helmet had two extensions to cover the skull and ears. Though it was a great measure to protect, problems started arising when it kept slipping. Things turned funny when a spectator suggested him to put nails and fix it on to him. Brearley answered the Aussie supporter in style, leading the team to win a 3-0 series.
Later on, Gavaskar was seen wearing somewhat a similar helmet.
3. Scoop bat :
The innovation that made Gray-Nicolls famous is the gear we are talking about. During the 1970s, they introduced this bat with a large sweet spot and thicker edges. It became an instant hit among cricketers, including maestro Brian Lara who went on to score 5 centuries with it. Later on, the popularity was reduced by other bats invented eventually. the scoop had its variations too, like for David Gower the preferrence was of single scoop but later on the more popular ones had two or four scoops.
2. Crash Helmet
The lovestory between English cricketers and weird helmets climbed another level when Dennis Amiss wore the ‘Crash Helmet’ with a look more like the helmets for scooters. It had a transparent protector which covered the eyes also. Though very much apt for protection, it made communications between the batsmen very problematic. The opponents were happy to get the English batsmen run-out but Amiss did not compromise on safety. The helmets were improvised later.
1. Aluminium bat
But the most buzz-worthy event regarding the weird gears has to be Dennis Lillee’s Aluminium bat. During the Ashes of 1978-79,the famous bowler came out to bat with ComBat as it was called. A friend of Lillee, Graham Monaghan planned and designed this bat which seemed to bring more terror than anythig to the opposition but Lillee semmed quite chilled out about using it. After some deliveries, as it was damaging the ball time and again, Lillee was asked by the umpires to change to a willow bat. Here’s the video:
We hope to see some more of these inventions on field so that the entertainment in cricket remains the same as it used to be and thanks to those whose brainchildren these were.