Cricket braces for the bat with a difference

What is so special about the Woodworm Wand, or for that matter any cricket bat? Well, a cricket bat to a batsman is like a guitar to a Guitarist. It is almost like buying a nice pair of leather shoes, which tend to walk with you after a few days of using them. A cricket bat is just not another piece of willow; to many a batsman the bat becomes a part of his life.

The cricket bat has retained its shape and size over the years, thanks to the rules which govern the game. Apart from the difference in the weight of the bat and the length of the handle, there has been no remarkable difference between any two bats. There have been some efforts in the recent past to make some cosmetic changes, which hardly made any difference to the bat or the batsmen.

So what makes the recently launched Woodworm Wand something very revolutionary? This bat is definitely not anything like what Lance Cairns (father of Chris Cairns) used; the big burly New Zealand all-rounder wielded a strange club-like bat called the Excalibur, and with the retirement of Lance Cairns the Excalibur story ended too. The Woodworm Wand is undoubtedly the most talked about cricket bat since Dennis Lillee's aluminium bat in the 1979/80 Perth Test. Whilst the cricketing authorities were quick to banish Lillee's illegal blade, the Woodworm Wand was approved by all cricketing authorities in February 2002.

The origin of the first Woodworm Wand is almost like an English folk story. Back in August 2001, Joe Sillett found a 10-year-old bat at the back of his garage. Joe and his father Bob Sillett began re-shaping an old cricket bat riddled with woodworm. The result was the first ever Wand. Convinced that the bat offered something unique, Joe used it in a club game and scored 142 not out.

The unique feature of the Woodworm Wand is the shape of the cricket bat with the "cutaways". Wood is removed from the most vulnerable zone and is re-distributed into an enhanced central hitting zone giving added power and a lighter pick-up. It also features an excellent new "Oz" grip from Australia, which provides for increased control of the bat. The feel is completely different, and the driving simply a pleasure.

The Woodworm Wand is making a mark at the highest level now. Sri Lankan middle-order batsman Russel Arnold was one of the first international batsmen to use this wonderful piece of willow. Soon, other players like Abdur Razzaq of Pakistan and Avishka Gunawardene of Sri Lanka too have joined the club of players' wielding the magic wand.

The Woodworm Wand will now be available in India starting at the end of August. CricInfo India has signed up an exclusive distribution agreement with The Woodworm Cricket Company UK to distribute this product in India. The initial reaction from the various stakeholders in the game has been fantastic. From little kids in the coaching camps in Chennai to the bat manufacturers in Meerut, from doubting cricket coaches to hard-nosed sports shop managers, everyone accepts that there is something more to the Woodworm Wand than a common cricket bat.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. It is the players at every level - from street cricketers to International cricketers - who will now have to decide whether the Woodworm Wand will measure up to their expectations.