MCC decides against bat law change

The MCC World Cricket Committee has decided not to change the Law regarding the size of the bats used in cricket.

The decision was made after the committee commissioned a study to see if the size of modern cricket bats had tipped the balance between bat and ball far enough in the batsman's favour to merit a change in the law.

The study, done by Imperial College London, found that modern bats have bigger sweet spots and much larger edges than the bats used in the study from 1905 and 1980. The study also found that the ball travelled further when hit closer to to the edge of a modern bat.

According to a Cricinfo report, the MCC committee studied and debated the findings of the study but could not come to a consensus and decided to retain the Law that limits bat sizes. The Law says that bats are limited to a length of 38 inches (96.5cm) and the width to 4.25 inches (10.7 cm).

The committee noted that boundaries should be pushed out as far as safety allows, to prevent batsmen from gaining more of an advantage.