Mongoose Cricket Bats for T20 – A beginning or an End?
I woke up today to a shock !
A shock which actually stuck the cricketing world on 22nd may 2009.Just have a look at the shock.
This is a Cricket Bat!!! I have never seen a shock like this
This new bat has been launched specially for T20 cricket.It confirms to all MCC standards.According to official website
The Mongoose MMi3
- Evolutionary step that gives unparalleled attacking advantage
- Revolutionary design hits faster, harder, further
- The shot that got you four now gets you six
- Conforms to MCC Laws
- 20% more power than a conventional bat
- 15% more bat speed
- Sweet spot more than twice the size of a conventional bat
- Hand crafted in England
- Limited Edition custom made bats only
- Massive edges from shoulder to toe
- Massive toe
- Huge profile across entire blade
- Available in all weights from light to mammoth
- Made from Top Grade English Willow: Grades 1–3 only
After reading all this on different websites and watching videos of it.I am in state of confusion. just have a look at this video
A bat specially designed for Twenty20 cricket, called “The Mongoose” and approved by the Marylebone Cricket Club (guardians of the game), has hit the English market on the eve of the World Twenty20 tournament.This probably is the first time since 1771 that a fundamental alteration in the shape of a cricket bat has been authorised. The willow is described as “an attacking response to the way Twenty20 is played”. The MCC have pronounced it legal. In the Mongoose, the handle is 43 percent longer and the blade 33 percent shorter than a conventional bat. This is said to produce 20 percent more power and 15 percent more bat speed than a regular bat.(courtesy The Tribune)
The main thing to notice here is that it is approved by MCC.Players like Sturat Law are promoting it.It is said that this bat is made after consultaion with players as per their needs for T20 cricket. Even Lou Vincent (a somewhat known name) is promoting it.Now after what i have read and seen ,it seems in recent future we actually might see this bat in action. But are we ready for it.I dont say this is mockery of Cricket but it cant be cricket.Generations have passed by seeing the original and cricket bats and playing with it.
Change should be good,it should not change the original beyond recognition.The new cricket bat seems like a tool for some other game but not cricket.Same is being discussed in the following video(look at what the inventor of the bat has to say on usage of this bat and its superiority over a conventional bat).He also says that in T20 there is no defensive shot so the bat is kept shorter.So means without defence its not even cricket sir!He says a lot of about cricket and its change(watch his interview with the journalist who asks relevant questions).
With this bat terms like cover drive , middle of the bat etc would be gone. T20 has glorified cricket for sure.We should promote it.This can be called future of cricket but should we change the Cricket as such.
Tomorrow a new company would come out with a new ball which can be hit easily to a distance.Some cork or rubber balls.MCC would approve that also .
I am not at all saying that changes should not be there but changing Cricket is an issue.I dont know what you are thinking.
Just imagine Sachin holding this bat!! 
This might become an interesting debate in the future.So get ready guys Cricket is ready to change.And also get ready for seeing this bat over and over once AajTak or India TV even gets a Whiff of it(i am surprised that they have not discussed it till now)
There are many chances.Different bats for different types of cricket.
Test ke kiye normal bat,One day a little different bat and for T20 mongoose bat.
There are even chances that T20 cricket would be merged slowly to baseball.Both games will mix and a new game would be formed.Players from baseball who have no chance to play for their teams might come to T20 cricket with such mongoose bats and try to hit homerun on every ball.Everything makes good business sense but What will happen to our Cricket,the great game called Cricket?
What say Mr Vijay Mallya , nice business idea ?
What Say?
Update : In the IPL 3 2010,two batsmen are using Mongoose bat with great effect,Mathew Hayden(CSK) and Andrew Symonds(DC).Indians have been introduced to the mongoose through IPL.Mongoose have strong plans for India.They even have launched a website especially for India.
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Very good article Manmeet, especially for those cricket freaks who are still live in the Test cricket, white clothes, unlimited bouncers, quality defensive strokes & clapping over opponent’hundred era.
Now if we look at the success of any game in the world, there will be two reasons; the money that the game can bring in and the number of people it attract to the stadium or to the television. Now as we know that Test Cricket has a cult following as the movie “Shashwank Redemption” has, means not everyone actully love test cricket as not everyone who watch shashwank redemption likes it.
Hence the question here is what should the cricketing fraternity get to the table of people who dont like 5 days test cricket, and the answer is get them a very short and faster version of game, which we have in the form of T20, the only way we can get viewrship in USA, Europe & Asian countries other than indian sub-continent is to promote faster, smarter, more happening and entertaining cricket.
Now having a bat which resembles baseball bat will go a long way in promoting this faster version of cricket in the areas where people are not comfortable spending 5 days watching a game. But it would be disasterous for Lords stadium, Eden Garden guys who come to watch cricket.
Bcoz once we conform to this kind of gamemanship it will no more be crikcet rather a commodity packaged in the best possible manner and made available for the maximum possible public consumption.
Hence forget all those Azaharuddin cover drives, Stuart william square drives, Rahul dravid ondrives and Brian lara leaving the balls.
So possibly this mongoose will bring in more money and less Mann !
It wud b like any other game, where force, power, strength, brutality and luck matters more than the sharp skills, which used to be essential for cricket.
Long Live Test Cricket !
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thanks buddy !!
we all support T20 but not on the cost of CRICKET!!!
T20 has to remain cricket to be T20 not above it or fundamentally a new game altogether
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T20 cricket is still not so appealing to many people. But people have to watch what they are shown. Introducing a mongoose bat too will be accepted by everyone slowly. Its said always that ‘change is for good’, but i cant see any good happening to cricket with all these changes.
Everyone should read about mongoose bats so that this awareness spreads that we dont want cricket to be extinct soon or watch something else in the name of cricket. All those who worship cricket WAKE UP !!!
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interesting article man, I definitely buy the argument that these innovations should not be at the cost of cricket. People are not enjoying the longer version of cricket, so we brought the T20 to promote the game. We’ve already made a joke out of it by making it completely a batsman’s game and these bats are gonna further kill the bowlers.I feel this is enough and allow the element of skill to prevail in this game..
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totally agree with it !
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This phenomenon of performance equipment is not new, earlier it changed tennis forever, and now the good old days of wooden rackets have given way to titanium, to graphite and now reinforced carbon fibre.
They can hit the ball faster than ever, and skill and speed is what the game is about now, the mind games and strategy have taken a back seat.
Cricket is going the same way!
Nothing that you can do about it.
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Nice Point!!
But introducing the new racquets didnt stop players from paying the normal shots
but with this new bat the defense shots playing with soft hands and such shots would be just extinct
only shots would be pull smash lofted shots etc
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The reality is there’s now 2 different games of cricket, the more attacking 20/20 where we see bowlers running in bowling yorkers as much as possible and batters trying to whack it out of the park and then there’s the Test Cricket where it’s an endurance game.
The 2 games are so different that different equipment is needed, hence we have seen the Mongoose and previously the double sided 20/20 bat. I’ve had a hit with the Mongoose and can clearly see the advantages it would give in a 20/20 game.
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Real nice to know that you had a hit with mongoose bat!!!
but my point is that cricket has been a very fundamentally strong game.
Each and every shot played needs expertise and there are certain players who are masters of certain shots.with introduction of mongoose bat
there will be very restricted shots left.
The owner himself claims in the video that with mongoose defensive shots are not possible as such but in 2020 u dont need so
so i agree mongoose gives advantages in 2020 but that will not be cricket its just like baseball try to hit every ball for a homerun out of the park
again i m glad to know that u have tried the mongoose bat even i want to actually see it and have a go with it once atleast!!
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How absurd this argument is. If you all care about the continuity of Test cricket, how come India play matches to half empty stadia now? Where are you all in the queue to buy Test match tickets and secure the future of the long game?
2020 subsidises Test match cricket and keeps the game of cricket alive, globally. It fills grounds with its intoxicating mix of risk taking, invention and pyrotechnics.
The Mongoose looks like a necessary evolution of cricket. It will encourage more daring, more flamboyance at the crease and more spectacle for the crowds. It will keep the turnstiles revolving.
If the Mongoose makes cricket more appealing, it is only for the good of the game. With Test match scoring rates increasing each year, perhaps the Mongoose is suited to the longer format of the game as well as 2020?
It might be exactly what is required to bring the crowds back into Test matches at Marie Celeste-like Test match venues all over the world from Barbados, to Dunedin, to Chester-Le-Street to Mumbai. Bring on the Goose, I say.
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I don’t think that argument is absurd a bit orthodox may be!!
but you have missed the whole point of the argument!
My main point is that introducing this bat will fundamentally change the game of cricket!
Many shots will become extinct
I buy your point regarding 2020 but regarding using this bat in test cricket is totally absurd!
Regarding people not coming to watch test cricket is an issue which needs to be sorted out!!
Test match is not some movie that if people are not watching, we change it and put some action flick which may be liked by more people!
But thanks for the comment!!
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when i play the guitar… people listen to it and ask a funny question “can u teach me how to play a song XYZ???”…
then i explain that its a process… u hv to learn how to pluck the strings… practise licks… work really hard… to produce a pleasant sound….
imagine a scene whr a school kid turns up to his coach with a mongoose cricket bat and asks “can u teach me how to hit a SIX….” the coach will have to tell him “Go son… get a proper cricket bat so that i can teach u how to hold it first….”
friends what we need to understand that not only in India, but in many countries cricket has become a part of the culture… a way of life…
its not just the “fours n sixes” that people love to see… they love to watch a ball swing or seam…. v love to watch a batsman beaten…. the stumps rattled… by a quality delivery nd not jus due to a reckless shot…
if some1 wants to see mongoose bats introduced in test cricket as well… get -set for a 2-3day show rather than a “5-day”…..”Boring”…..”Spectacle”…..
as for 20-20 it already is a big hit…. don’t take away its glory and try to reallocate it to some mongoose….
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Nice one mate!!
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Hi Manmeet
Thanks for your blog – it was informative and gave a balanced opinion, even better than some journalists who have written articles for newspapers.
Can I answer some of your points, but first declare an interest – I am the Chief Executive of Mongoose Cricket.
The bat does allow you to hit the ball harder, but you still have to be good enough to hit it in the first place. It is not a magic Harry Potter wand!
The other point is that you are assuming that every shot played with the bat will be a mad slog over mid-wicket. This is not true. The batsmen who use the Mongoose best are those who are very good technically. You can play a beautiful cover drive with the Mongoose.
Professional players love the bat and its new companion – the Mongoose CoR3 which has just been launched. It is longer than the Mongoose MMi3 but still has no splice in the handle (see http://www.mongoosecricket.com for details.)
In the next month Mongoose will sign up a number of well-known professionals to use the bats – including, we hope, an Indian cricket legend. Remember…the news was first made public on the Manmeet Sabharwal blog!
Best wishes and keep up the great work with your blog
Dan
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[...] Comments Dan Bradshaw on Mongoose Cricket Bats for T20 – A beginning or an End?LnddMiles on Greed is contempt and Yes! Adbrite Bans Publishers!MichaellaS on Brand Ambassador [...]
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Thank you so much Dan for commenting on my blog and explaining your points well.
And also thanks for making my blog exclusive on that Indian batsman news
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Update from this morning – West Indian, Sussex and Deccan Chargers all-rounder signs up with Mongoose. He will start using the bats today.
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Dwayne Smith – for those who couldn’t guess the name!
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The bat was actually invented by Armine Khan and MCF
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