Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Ian Canaway

==================
IMPORTANT - Publication/Reprint Terms

- You have permission to publish this article electronically in
free-only publications such as a website or an ezine as long as
the bylines are included.

- You are not allowed to use this article for commercial
purposes. The article should only be reprinted in a publicly
accessible website and not in a members-only commercial site.

- You are not allowed to post/reprint this article in any
sites/publications that contains or supports hate, violence,
porn and warez or any indecent and illegal sites/publications.

- You are not allowed to use this article in UCE (Unsolicited
Commercial Email) or SPAM. This article MUST be distributed in
an opt-in email list only.

- If you distribute this article in an ezine or newsletter, we
ask that you send a copy of the newsletter or ezine that
contains the article to ian.canaway@...

- If you post this article in a website/forum/blog, ALL links
MUST be set to hyperlinks and we ask that you send a copy of
the URL where the article is posted to ian.canaway@...

- We request that you ask permission from the author if you
want to publish this article in print.

The role of iSnare.com is only to distribute this article as
part of its Article Distribution feature (
http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php ). iSnare.com does NOT
own this article, please respect the author's copyright and
this publication/reprint terms. If you do not agree to any of
these terms, please do not reprint or publish this article.
==================

Article Title: Cricket Bat Care And Maintenance: Knocking In
Your New Cricket Bat
Author: Ian Canaway
Word Count: 439
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?id=8594&ca=Sports
Format: 64cpl
Author's Email Address: ian.canaway@...

Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?id=8594

================== ARTICLE START ==================
Ideally you should knock in any new cricket bat for at least
six hours, yes it's a lot but it will help condition your bat
for heavy usage without damaging it.

You should also knock-in your new cricket bat even if it comes
advertised as 'ready to play', as it still won't be ready for
the full force of a hard new cricket ball, especially if you
catch an edge or the ball hits the toe.

I've seen players go out on to the square with a brand new
cricket bat, which hadn't been knocked in. In the first over he
dug out a Yorker, which resulted in a 'fatal' crack in the toe
of the bat. If it had been knocked in properly it's unlikely
this would have ever happened. If you don't knock in your bat
you could literally be 'throwing £200 down the pan'.

To knock in your bat I highly recommend you use an old high
quality cricket ball.

Begin gently by tapping the bat, particularly focusing in on
the edges, as these are a very vulnerable part of the bat and
by the end you want the edges to be almost slightly rounded.

Spend 2-3 hours doing this stage of knocking in the bat, making
sure you cover all of the face of the bat, excluding the splice
area. Don't knock-in the back of the cricket bat.

After you have done this gradually increase the force with
which you hit the bat, making sure you systematically cover all
of the face of the bat. By the end you should be hitting the bat
with full force to simulate the impact of a real cricket ball.

When you have finished knocking in the bat, you should first
progress to using the bat for out field practice and then in
the nets against an old used high quality cricket ball,
especially avoid 'bat breaker' cricket balls, you know the
ones, cheap, hard and usually shiny. If your bat is going to
break or split it's these balls that'll do the damage.

Once you've played the bat in for a few hours in the nets it'll
be ready to take out on to the square.

It's a tedious process but well worth the time and effort for
the results you'll get for your hard work. Its worth mentioning
that some sports shops may offer a knocking in service for a
small fee. Personally I like to do it myself to see how the bat
progresses as it becomes more knocked in.


About The Author: Discover amazing cricket tips and tricks at
that you can use today to explode your cricket results! Visit:
http://www.cricketsecrets.com/bonus.html Or visit our forum at:
http://www.cricketsecrets.com/phpBB2/
================== ARTICLE END ==================

For more free-reprint articles by Ian Canaway please visit:
http://www.isnare.com/?s=author&a=Ian+Canaway