So, after England's recent poor performances with the bat in test matches, it looks like they could do with practicing with one of these - a thin bat. There are many different training tools and tips you can use in order to improve your batting and your concentration. This thin bat is widely available, and is a decent one, although I must say that there are ways it could be improved. For a start, it's nowhere near as expensive as regular sized cricket bats - this is not because there's less wood used, it's more because it's not a match bat and is only for training use. You can get it for around the £30 mark and less. Initially, you may think this is a mark of ...  Read the complete review

Middling bats or thin bats are bats which only have the inner middle and is designed as a tool for helping the batsman improve their timing as only balls hit in the middle will go anywhere. I have used one of these bats in the nets, as they are illegal as a bat in a proper game but its use in the nets is designed to help the batsman get behind the ball and try and time his shots. The bat is a thin bat but has the same characteristics as a normal bat in terms of length and handle, but as a thin bat it is lighter than normal bats. The use of the bat does help the batsman getting behind the ball and improves technique but of course should be mixed with a normal ...  Read the complete review

My team purchased one of these Upfront Crict Middling Thin Bats at the start of the 2008 season. At first I couldn't work out the point. It's not the same size as a normal cricket bat, infact its a lot thinner. All this seems to do is make batting harder. Relucently I was forced to use it in training. I couldn't hit the ball, I kept missing it! My coach told me to concetrate on walking across my stumps and trying to get in line with the ball. Getting behind the ball shoud help me to hit the ball and it did. I must admit, the first few training sessions with this bat were very frustrating. It just felt like I was wasting my time. However, after a while I found ...  Read the complete review

<>First impression (price etc)<> On receiving this bat i was surprised as the quality of wood. Although the wood is only kashmir it had some nice grains and looked sturdy. It picks up nicely and the stickers are very good. I payed around £20 for this bat which is fairly good considering the benefits you will get out of it. <>Performance<> The weight of the bat helps the ball go further when you hit it. It pings quite nicely off the middle and picks up very nicely. It helps if you put 2 grips on the handle, this betters the pick up and makes the bat feel nearer your match bat. The bat is around 70mm thick so much ...  Read the complete review

I bought one of these bats last year at a cost of about £20. The reason I bought this bat is to learn a better technique. The benefits I have got from using this bat has been amazing. You may think it is hard with the thin-ness of the bat but once you are used to it, its just like using a normal bat. I used this in indoor nets over the winter period. At the start it took a while getting used to but now that I have improved, it really helps your technique and once you use it in a match, you really can see an improvment. In the mean time, its fun when you play simple games with it. They include setting two cones 5 metres apart 10 metres from you. Try ...  Read the complete review