Oiling a new cricket bat: how much, how often, and what it is for

A new bat arrives dry. The willow has been pressed and shaped, and the face is clean, pale wood. Oil is the first thing it needs from you, and it is also the thing most often done wrong. Too little and the face dries and cracks in its first season. Too much and the bat goes soft and heavy. The right amount is small, and the method takes two evenings.

What the oil is for

Willow is a wet timber that has been dried on purpose. Drying is what makes it light and springy, and the same drying leaves the surface fibres ready to split the first time a hard ball lands on them. A thin film of raw linseed oil sits in those surface fibres and keeps them pliable. It does not soak deep, and it should not. It is a skin, not a soak.

Raw linseed, not boiled. Boiled linseed has driers in it that set hard and seal the face, which is not what we want on willow. Any hardware shop sells raw linseed oil, and a small bottle lasts a family of cricketers for years.

How much, and where

Pour about a teaspoon onto a soft cloth, not onto the bat. Wipe it across the face, the back, both edges and the toe. The cloth should leave a dull sheen, not a wet shine. If the wood looks wet, you have used too much; wipe the excess off with a dry cloth straight away.

Stand the bat upright, face out, somewhere cool, and leave it for a day. Then do it once more, the same way. Two thin coats is enough for a new bat. A third coat only helps if the first two sank in and the face still looks dry after a day, which happens with a very light, very open cleft.

Three places get no oil at all. The splice, where the handle meets the blade, is held by glue, and oil weakens glue. The stickers lift if oil gets under them. The handle is cane and rubber and wants to stay dry so the grip holds. Keep the cloth off all three.

If the bat came with a protective face sheet already fitted, oil the back, the edges and the toe only. The sheet does the face's job.

What too much oil does

An over-oiled bat is easy to spot on the bench. The face goes dark and slightly tacky, the bat picks up weight you can feel in the hand, and the ping goes dull, because the fibres are heavy with oil instead of springy. It is a common fault on bats that have been lovingly over-cared for. The owner oiled every week because somebody told them oil was good, and the bat paid for it.

There is no quick cure. Leave it bare in a cool room for a few weeks and let the surface dry back. Do not sand it to get the oil out; you will take willow off and the oil underneath will still be there.

How often after that

Once a new bat has had its two coats, it needs oil rarely. Once at the start of each season is enough for most players, and once more halfway through a long season if the face looks pale and dry. Look at the wood, not the calendar. A face that still has a faint sheen does not need more.

Before a bat goes into storage for the off season, one very light coat protects it through the months in the cupboard. Then a cover, and a shelf away from the wall and the window.

Oil first, then knock in

Oiling and knocking-in are two different jobs and they go in this order. The oil goes on first and has a day to settle before the mallet touches the face. Knocking in presses the surface fibres together so they take a hard ball without splitting, and oiled fibres press more evenly than dry ones. A bat knocked in dry can look fine and then crack along the edge in the first real net, because the dry surface had no give left in it.

The toe deserves a word of its own. It is the part that meets the crease and the damp ground, and it is where most bats die. Oil the toe end properly with both coats, and if the bat has no toe guard, consider fitting one before the season starts. Water in the toe swells the willow and splits it, and no amount of oil repairs that.

A short checklist for the first week

• Day one: a teaspoon of raw linseed on a cloth, a thin coat on the face, back, edges and toe. Nothing on the splice, stickers or handle.
• Day two: the same again. Check the wood looks dull, not wet.
• Day three onwards: start knocking in. Begin gently on the face and work towards the edges over a week of short sessions.
• Each season after: one light coat at the start, one more only if the face looks dry.

If you are not sure which size or weight of bat you should be oiling in the first place, the bat advisor on our site walks through it by height and the ball you play with. The oil is the same whichever bat you choose; what changes is how long the bat lasts, and that part is in your hands.