Andre Russell's black bat approved, again

Big Bash League 2016-17
December 27, 2016
Andre Russell's black bat approved, again
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Approval for Andre Russell's black bat was withdrawn because it left black marks on the ball © Cricket Australia
Andre Russell's black bat has been reapproved by Cricket Australia for use in the Big Bash League after a clear laminate cover was added to help protect the ball.

Russell used the black bat during Sydney Thunder's first match of the tournament, but after that game Cricket Australia withdrew its approval of the bat after feedback from the match officials that the bat had left black marks on the ball.

"Following feedback from the match offficials that the bat used by Andre in the opening night of the season left black marks on the match ball, Andre has worked with his bat manufacturer to modify the bat," Anthony Everard, the head of the BBL, said.

"A clear laminate cover has been applied to the bat, which complies with regulations to ensure the ball discolouration does not occur again. We're now satisfied that the bat will not compromise the integrity of the game by discolouring the match ball and we have granted approval for Andre to use the bat in any future BBL matches."

BBL and Women's BBL regulations allow players to use a coloured bat subject to CA approval. However, a coloured bat needs to either be black or match the team's primary colours. Chris Gayle had used a gold coloured bat during last year's BBL, produced by Spartan, the same manufacturer responsible for Russell's black bat.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

Haha, another great piece of news and to be honest, this is the best advertising that the bat manufacturer could always want, as this is one of the biggest bat talks I've seen. 

While they say that any publicity is good publicity, I'm not sure that this is the kind that the manufacturer would have really wanted. Sure, it's made the news, but for all the wrong reasons, but having said that, if they tweak what they've got so it doesn't mark the ball, their next advertising campaign will be a lot easier!

Yeah, it started with the wrong foot, but continued as free advertising. The solution was found and with a good crisis communication they can look back at this episode as something positive that happened.