Darshil Shah: Meet the mind behind the bamboo bat

When Dr Darshil Shah tinkered with the core of a cricket bat, he knew the traditionalists would bristle. The custodians of the sport weren’t anticipated to take too kindly to his innovation of changing the previous willow with laminated bamboo.
Shah and co-author Ben Tinkler-Davies concluded of their research that the laminated bamboo bat was sturdy, provided a greater “sweet spot,” and delivered extra power to the ball on influence.
The research was printed within the Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology, however Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which frames the principles of the game, deemed their prototype bat unlawful.
“The law would need to be altered to allow bamboo specifically, as even if it were to be recognised as a wood, this would still be illegal under the current law, which bans lamination of the blade, except in junior bats,” an MCC assertion mentioned, even because it welcomed the experiment, terming “this angle of willow alternatives as something that must be considered”.
Shah is aware of what the most important hindrance is within the official acceptance of their ‘invention’.
“The lamination of a bamboo bat is the biggest sticking point. We knew that getting MCC to change the rules on it would be a long shot. I’m not expecting that to happen. That would be a big rule change for them,” Shah informed The Indian Express over telephone. “Unfortunately, there isn’t any other way to manufacture a bamboo bat without laminating it. That’s because bamboo is hollow, and in order to make it into a solid piece, one needs to assemble different strips and glue them together.”
Eye-opener
The analysis famous that prototype bats made out of laminated bamboo had been 40 p.c heavier and extra sturdy than these comprised of the standard willow. (Express Archive)
Nevertheless, Shah, 33, is hoping his analysis prompts individuals – significantly bat-makers, law-makers and different innovators – to look past conventional willow, a scarce commodity, and take a look at different sustainable alternate options.
“If they deem bamboo as illegal, it’s absolutely fine. But they ought to open their minds to other sustainable alternatives as well. “English willow has been used to manufacture cricket bats for the past 200 years. There are over 10,000 species of wood… so why would you want to make it with just one material that’s in short supply. It just doesn’t make any sense to me. For example, you don’t make a sitar with one particular tree. You use different varieties to make them. So, why should cricket bats be any different?” he questioned.
For now, he mentioned he can be content material if his prototype bat will get utilized in junior cricket. Following the publication of the research, a very cryptic message caught Shah’s consideration. It mentioned: “Why fix things, when it isn’t broken?”
But he has a reply prepared. “One of the things with innovation is that it foresees challenges. Willow is in short supply, but the reach of the game is increasing. Since bamboo is found in abundance in Mexico, China and South-East Asia – countries that have been showing keen interest in cricket – it makes sense to make that shift,” he reasoned.
Bat-ball stability
In response to the argument that changing willow with bamboo with an even bigger and higher candy spot would tilt the stability of cricket much more in the direction of batsmen, Shah suggests modifications elsewhere.
“Since I’m a medium pacer, I am always sympathetic towards bowlers. Two things need to change to bring bowlers back into the game. First, change the nature of pitches. Second, bat sizes need to be regulated. Make the cricket bats wafer-thin, just like they were back in the 1970s. Only then will the balance between bat and ball be achieved. But I doubt that’s ever going to happen.”.
He plans modifications in his personal bamboo bat, 40 per cent heavier than the one product of willow, to redress the stability. “Our next effort will be to reduce the weight by reducing the bat’s thickness. One of the most annoying sights for a fast bowler is to see a top edge going for a six. If the bat’s edges are much thinner, while retaining the sweet spot, batsmen will get full value for middling the ball. It would be a win-win scenario for batsmen and bowlers,” Shah provided.

Love of the sport
When Shah just isn’t working at Cambridge University’s Centre for Natural Material Innovation, designing skyscrapers and analyzing sustainable alternate options to traditional supplies, one can discover him at Little Shelford Club, bowling medium pacers or thwacking the leather-based ball.
“Cricket is a game I love and think deeply about. I was barely four when my parents migrated with me from Ahmedabad to Bangkok, where my father is employed with a firm that manufactures polyester fibre. By the time I turned 13, I graduated to Thailand’s junior-grade cricket team and participated at Asian Championship tourneys. By 19, I shifted to the UK for my undergraduate course at Nottingham University. It put a brake on my cricketing career but I returned to the game after a four-year hiatus at the English village level during the time I was pursuing my PhD,” Shah knowledgeable.
Thought and course of
It’s this love for the sport and the shortage of English willow precipitated by world warming, that prompted the considering behind the event of the laminated bamboo bat prototype. The analysis was carried out with Tinkler-Davies, certainly one of Shah’s under-graduate college students.
The duo sourced the supplies themselves earlier than soliciting the companies of a neighborhood bat producer Garrard and Flack, who used the identical machines and strategies to craft the prototype bamboo bat that do for the willow one. The preliminary suggestions was startling.
“When I showed it to friends at my club, they didn’t quite realise it was made from bamboo. And for the purists of the game, you don’t need to worry about losing that traditional sound of leather on willow. The only difference was that it was substantially heavier,” Shah mentioned.
The different essential consideration was the value side. “In India, a Grade A bat would cost up to Rs 20,000. If you want kids from the lower strata to play the game, you will have to lower the bat’s cost. The scarcity of willow, coupled with the transportation and import duty, is the reason for such inflated levels,” he identified. In comparability, Shah expects the price of a bamboo bat to be no less than 30 per cent decrease on common due to its considerable provide and straightforward procurement.
The MCC mentioned they are going to talk about the sustainability side of the bamboo bat on the subsequent legal guidelines sub-committee assembly. “It’s great that MCC came up with a statement the other day, where they spoke about sustainability and cost-effective nature. We haven’t received a call from them as yet. If we do, we will only be happy to meet, discuss and put our views across,” he concluded.