Wooden or plastic cricket bat?

Buy a wooden bat if you play regularly with a tennis ball — it hits further, lasts seasons, and can be cut to your weight. Plastic bats only make sense for children under ten, for the beach, or for a one-off game where the bat will be abused and abandoned.

What plastic gets you

It survives water, costs very little, and will not splinter. That is the whole list. It has almost no rebound, the weight sits wrong, and it cannot be repaired or reshaped.

What wood gets you

A real middle. A tennis ball comes off a pressed wooden face far harder than off plastic, which is why every serious gully side plays with wood. It can also be cut to your weight, re-gripped, and taped at the toe to add seasons.

The honest exception

For a seven-year-old, or a game on the beach where the bat is going in the sea, buy plastic. We would rather say that than sell you a ₹950 bat to leave in the sand.

What to check before you buy

If a listing does not name the wood, it is usually because there is not much of it. Ours say Sri Lankan, Kashmir Willow or Poplar on every product page, because we buy the clefts ourselves.