History of Cricket Bat

While the particular origins of cricket and the cricket bat are not known, it has been theorized that the game owes its invention to shepherds. Perhaps first played, at least in a rudimentary sense, with shepherd's crooks; the cricket bat in the early years of the sport bore more resemblance to today's hockey sticks than the shape we know now.

While many different styles of bats have been explored in the last 500 years, the dimensions and composition of cricket bats was not formally standardized until 1979, following what many refer to as the Heavy Metal incident.
In Perth, Australia, during an international cricket match, bowling phenom Dennis Lillee strutted onto the field brandishing an aluminum bat. While there were no formal rules governing bat construction at that point, an British uproar ensued (10 to 15 minutes of animated discussion in perfect grammar). It was felt that the aluminum bat was damaging the ball, and Lillee was eventually persuaded to trade bats for a more conventional wood one. Shortly following this incident, formal rules were voted into place, demanding that the blades of cricket bats be made of wood.