Give your new cricket bat the best start to life with a Fantail knocking in service. We offer a comprehensive knocking-in service, combining hand knocking with our state-of-the-art Smart Knocking-in Machine.This process prepares your bat for hardball use. You won't notice a significant difference in performance after the service is completed. However, the service will compress the fibres to maximise the performance within the bat. Bat performance comes from the quality of willow, shape, weight and pressing done by the bat manufacturer. PLEASE NOTE: We offer a crack repair service, not a crack prevention service. We don't provide any warranty on our crack repairs as we can't control what the willow will do, but we do our best to ensure they hold for as long as possible. Crack repairs are a temporary solution. We'd recommend purchasing a new bat if you want a permanent solution. If you need further details, please get in touch with us before placing an order. PROCESS: We apply a coat of linseed oil. Linseed oil helps the cricket bat retain its own moisture and reduces the cracking rate due to allowing the fibres to stretch rather than crack. The knocking process starts with the edges and toe of the bat we do this by hand using a wooden mallet as these are the weakest and most vulnerable areas of the bat. It then moves on to our Smart Knock knocking in machine. Which does all that a human can do but better as it has complete control of each strike with placement and power. It works its way slowly up and down the blade while moving across the blade simultaneously. Your bat will receive approximately 15,000 knocks during our service. Once the knocking is complete, we then move on to applying any optional extras you've ordered. Before using your new bat for match play, we recommend using the bat for light net sessions with an old cricket ball to assess if it is ready. Start with a slow pace and slowly build up. Should small seam indentations appear, slow the pace down and only increase the pace when you can see no new seam indentations. Continue this process until you are using a new ball at full pace. PLEASE NOTE: There is no warranty on non Fantail branded bats that we have knocked in. All facings/edge tape and glue residue will need to be removed before our knocking in period starts. You will need to purchase a new facing if you'd like one to be applied once the knocking in the process is complete, as we can't reuse facings. Our knocking in machine covers 36cm up from the toe. If your stickers finish lower than that, you may notice knocking marks. It's not uncommon for bats to develop small surface cracks during our knocking in process. We will seal and fix the cracks for no additional charge if they do occur. It's common for toe guards to come off during our knocking in service. As the willow compresses, toe guards don't compress with the willow, making them pop off.
