Cricket bat edge repair: glue, tape, and when a new bat goes back

When cricket bat edge repair is worth doing

A cracked edge is the most common damage on a bat. The edge takes every ball that misses the middle. The willow there is thinner, so it gives way first.

Most edge cracks stay near the surface. They are hairlines along the grain, 2 to 8 cm long, and no more than 2 or 3 mm deep. You can fix one at home in an evening and play with the bat the next weekend.

Cricket bat edge repair at home makes sense when three things are true. The crack runs with the grain. A fingernail goes no more than a few millimetres into it. The edge does not move when you press on either side of the crack.

If the crack runs across the grain, if a piece of the edge is loose, or if the blade flexes along the crack, stop there. That bat needs a workshop clamp and a new piece of willow, not glue from a tube.

The recommendation: lay the bat flat on a table and check the crack in good daylight before you buy anything. That one check tells you which of the sections below applies to you.

Glue: use white wood glue

For a hairline edge crack, use white wood glue, the PVA kind sold for furniture. It stays slightly flexible after it sets, which suits willow. It also wipes off with a damp cloth.

Don't use superglue. It sets hard and brittle, and it cracks again on the first firm hit. New glue also won't stick to old superglue, so the next repair gets harder.

Keep a slow-set two-part wood epoxy for one case only: a crack wider than a credit card is thick. In a gap that wide, PVA just runs out before it sets.

The steps for a 5 cm hairline crack:

1. Open the crack slightly. Press gently on the face near the edge, or slide a thin knife blade in. Don't lever hard.
2. Work in a few drops of glue with a toothpick or a strip of thin card.
3. Close the crack. Wrap the edge tightly in a strip of cling film, then masking tape over it. The cling film stops the tape sticking to the glue. A soft-jawed clamp works too.
4. Wipe off any glue that squeezes out.
5. Leave PVA for a full 24 hours. Epoxy needs whatever its pack says, usually 12 to 24 hours.
6. Unwrap the bat. Smooth any ridge of dried glue with 240-grit paper, moving only along the grain.

Tape: the part that keeps the crack closed

The glue mends the crack, and the tape stops it opening again. Once the glue has set, cover the repaired edge with fibreglass edge tape about 25 mm wide.

Fibreglass tape has strands running along its length. Those strands hold the willow together when the ball hits. Plain clear face tape stops scuffs, but it does very little to hold a crack shut. For an edge repair, the fibre tape is the one to buy. Edge tape and bat care kits are in the accessories section.

Cut a strip that runs 2 to 3 cm past the crack at each end. Round off the corners of the strip with scissors so they don't lift.

Start the strip on the face, about 1 cm in from the edge. Pull it firmly over the edge and finish on the back. Press out air bubbles with your thumb, working from the middle outwards.

Only tape bare, dry wood. Tape laid over wet glue or fresh oil peels off within a week.

Check the tape every few matches. If it has split along the edge, the crack is opening underneath. Lift the tape, check the glue line and lay a fresh strip.

When it is a new bat

A crack on a new bat is a different case. In the first few hours of play, fine marks on the face and edge of a new English willow bat are normal. The surface fibres are settling. Small marks like these close up with use and need no glue.

A longer crack on a new bat is another matter. Watch for one that runs more than a few centimetres, crosses the grain or opens when you press it. It usually means the bat met a hard leather ball before it was knocked in enough.

A new English willow bat needs 4 to 6 hours of knocking in with a wooden mallet. Spend part of that time on the edges. Strike them at an angle so the edge rounds off instead of flattening.

The recommendation for a new bat: don't glue it yourself in the first month. Keep the bill. Photograph the crack in daylight from the face, the edge and the back. Then contact the seller before you touch it.

A home repair can end any claim you might have with the seller. If the seller confirms the crack is normal wear, go ahead with glue and tape as above.

How to stop the next crack

Most edge cracks come from one of three causes. The bat wasn't knocked in, it has dried out, or it met a ball it wasn't made for.

Keep the bat in its cover, and keep it out of hot car boots and direct sun. A dry blade cracks much more easily. A thin coat of raw linseed oil on the bare willow a few times a season keeps it supple. Wipe off whatever has not soaked in after an hour.

Keep the leather-ball English willow bat away from hard plastic balls and bowling-machine balls in the nets. Those balls are harder on the edge than a match ball. Keep an older bat for net sessions instead.

When to hand it over

Some cracks are past a home fix. Hand the bat over if a piece of the edge is missing or loose, or if the crack crosses the grain. The same goes for a crack that reaches the splice or the toe, or a glued crack that opens again within two weeks.

A workshop can cut out the damaged willow and fit a matching insert. It then reshapes the edge, sets it under a proper clamp and tapes it. Done well, the bat plays as it did before.

To have a cracked edge glued, clamped and taped by hand, send it to the bat repair service.