Pre-Season: Getting Your Kit ReadyA six-week countdown — built around lead times, not good intentions
Most kit failures in the first month of a season were visible in the last week of the previous one. The rest are timing problems — a bat ordered too late to knock in, a grip nobody checked. Both are solved by starting six weeks out.
Why six weeks, not two
Not because the work takes six weeks. Because two things have to happen in sequence, and neither can be rushed.
| Stage | How long | Can it be compressed? |
|---|---|---|
| Ordering and delivery | 5 days build + transit (10 days for club orders) | No. Bats are built to order, not picked from a shelf. |
| Knocking in a new bat | 4–8 hours over 2–3 weeks | No. Willow needs time between sessions to settle. |
| Old-ball throwdowns | 30–60 minutes | Somewhat, but it comes last. |
| Repairs, if needed | Days, plus transit each way | No. |
Six hours of mallet work on one Saturday does not equal six hours across three weeks. Willow compresses progressively — the fibres move, settle, then can be compressed further. Forcing it all at once bruises the surface rather than consolidating it, and a bruised blade never recovers its rebound. This is the step people most want to shortcut and most regret shortcutting.
The countdown
Six weeks out — Audit everything
Lay the whole kit out on the floor. Not in the bag — on the floor, where you can see it.
Bat: press a thumbnail into the face and look for cracks that open. Check the toe for swelling, the binding under the grip for fraying, and the splice for any movement.
Pads and gloves: press the foam. If you can feel through it, it is done.
Balls: are they scuffed, or split? Scuffing is wear, splitting is finished.
Grips: shiny or hard means gone.
Five weeks out — Order what is missing
This is the week that matters, and the one everyone leaves too late.
Bats are built to order — five days manufacturing plus transit, ten days for club quantities. Order now and the bat arrives with three weeks left to knock it in. Order in week two and it arrives unprepared for your first match, which is how new bats get destroyed.
Four weeks out — Start the new bat
Oil first, one teaspoon, then 24 hours. A second light coat if the willow still looks dry.
Then begin the mallet work — edges and toe first, which is the part almost everyone skips and where most early failures start. Twenty to thirty minutes at a time, three or four times a week.
Three weeks out — Keep knocking in, and fix the old bat
Continue the mallet work on the new bat, building force gradually. Meanwhile deal with anything the audit found.
Fine hairlines running with the grain need fibre tape and an anti-scuff sheet. Anything structural — a crack that opens, toe damage, a loose splice — send us a photograph now rather than in week one of the season.
Two weeks out — Old-ball throwdowns
Once the mallet work is done, thirty to sixty minutes of throwdowns with a used leather ball.
Never a new one. This finishes the surface in a way a mallet cannot, because the contact shape is different. Then fit the scuff sheet — after knocking in, never before.
One week out — Grips, bag, balls
The small things that decide your first innings more than you would like.
Fresh grip on every bat — ribbed and dotted if you play in humidity or under lights. Empty and air the kit bag. Check the balls came out of storage sound. Put a spare grip in the bag.
Match week — Do nothing to the bat
Genuinely. No oil, no fresh mallet work, no new scuff sheet.
Oil applied within 24 hours of a match softens the face and affects ball contact. A bat you have just worked on is not the bat you practised with. Leave it alone and go and play.
The audit, item by item
Twenty minutes, six weeks out, on the floor rather than in the bag.
| Item | Check | Replace if |
|---|---|---|
| Bat face | Press a thumbnail in. Scuffing and hairlines with the grain are normal. | A crack opens under pressure, or runs across the grain |
| Bat toe | Swelling, splitting, or a lifted toe guard | Splitting — though this is usually repairable |
| Splice | Does the handle move or rotate at all in the blade? | Any movement. Stop using it and send a photo |
| Binding | Take the grip off. Is the twine frayed? | Frayed — re-bind before the grip goes back on |
| Grip | Hard, shiny or slippery? | Almost certainly. Months of storage perish rubber |
| Pads | Press the foam. Feel for a broken or shifted cane rod | You can feel impact through it, or a rod has moved |
| Gloves | Press the finger padding. Check the palm leather | You can feel impact through the finger rolls |
| Thigh guard | Straps, and whether the foam has a permanent fold | Foam is compressed flat where it should sit |
| Balls | Seam proud? Shape round? Leather scuffed or split? | Split leather, or flat seam for match use |
| Bag | Wheels, zips, and whether anything was left in it | Wheels seized, which is the usual failure |
What actually fails in week one
From the bats and kit that come back to us, the same three things, every season.
1. The grip
It was fine in October. Rubber perishes with heat, sweat and age, and four or five months in storage finishes a grip that was already marginal. You find out on the first genuinely hard shot you play, which is the worst possible moment.
Replace every grip before the season, not the ones that look bad. Ours are ₹600 for six — about ₹100 each and the cheapest insurance in cricket.
2. The toe
A bat stored anywhere damp has taken moisture in through the toe, which is end grain — the fibres are cut open there, so it absorbs faster than anywhere else on the blade. Wet toe, swollen willow, split.
If the toe looks swollen or soft, let the bat dry fully in a cool place before you do anything else to it. Do not oil it and do not knock it in while it is damp.
3. The new bat that was not knocked in
Ordered two weeks out, arrived one week out, went straight into a match. It marks on the first delivery and cracks within a handful of innings, and it looks like a manufacturing fault to the owner.
This destroys bats at every price. A ₹59,999 bat that skipped preparation fails before a ₹7,999 one that did not. It is the single strongest argument for starting six weeks out rather than two.
The club version
Same principles, larger numbers, and one extra consideration: lead time on club quantities is ten days, not five.
- Audit the kit room first. Pads and gloves with compressed foam, balls with flat seams, bats with structural cracks. Separate what is finished from what is merely worn.
- Order once, with lead time. Minimum is 30 units and you can mix products, sizes, colours and batting hands within that thirty — so it does not have to be thirty of one thing.
- Two editions of ball, not more of one. A cheaper ball for nets and a durable one for matches, labelled separately. This is the change that saves most clubs the most money.
- Budget for mallets. Thirty bats arriving unprepared is thirty bats that will fail early. A few 1000g mallets in the kit room, or add our preparation service so they arrive ready.
- Do not buy up a grade for an academy. Higher grades are selected for performance rather than durability. Our Academy Edition is Grade 2 Kashmir — a denser cleft, and genuinely the right timber for four sessions a week.
Full detail in our guide to buying equipment for a club or academy.
And when the season ends
Half of next year's pre-season is decided by what you do in the fortnight after your last match.
- Clean everything and air it before it goes away. Damp kit sealed in a bag for four months is how foam breaks down and bats take moisture through the toe.
- One light coat of oil on the bat — one teaspoon, face, edges and toe, never the splice. Months of storage dry willow out.
- Store cool, dry and out of sunlight. Never a car boot, never a shed with a metal roof, never against an outside wall in the monsoon.
- Store pads and gloves flat, not folded or crushed. Compressed foam does not spring back, and a fold becomes permanent.
- Check the bat once mid-storage. If the face looks pale and dry, give it another light coat rather than waiting until February.
Our maintenance guide covers the full routine.
Questions players ask
How early should I start preparing for a cricket season? +
Six weeks, and the reason is lead times rather than the work itself. Bats are built to order - five days manufacturing plus transit, ten days for club quantities - and a new leather ball bat then needs four to eight hours of knocking in spread over two to three weeks. Order in week five and everything fits. Order two weeks out and the bat arrives unprepared for your first match.
What should I check on my bat before the season? +
Press a thumbnail into the face and look for cracks that open under pressure - fine hairlines running with the grain are normal, cracks that open are not. Check the toe for swelling or splitting, the binding under the grip for fraying, and whether the handle moves at all in the blade. Anything structural is far easier to deal with in March than in the first week of the season.
Does a bat need re-oiling before the season? +
Only if it is dry. Test with a thumbnail - press firmly along the face, and if a faint trace of oil appears the bat has enough. If the nail comes away clean, give it one light coat of raw linseed oil. Over-oiling is far more common than under-oiling and does far more damage.
Should I oil my bat the week before a match? +
No. Leave at least 24 hours and preferably longer. Fresh oil softens the face slightly and affects ball contact, and a bat that still feels tacky is not ready to play with. Match week is for doing nothing to the bat.
How long does knocking in take before a season? +
Four to six hours on Kashmir willow, six to eight on English willow, and eight to twelve on the big full-profile bats - spread over two to three weeks rather than done in one sitting. Willow needs time between sessions to settle, and six hours on a Saturday does not achieve what six hours across three weeks does.
What should a club do before the season starts? +
Audit the kit room, then order once with lead time. Minimum wholesale order is 30 units and you can mix products, sizes and hands within it. Order two editions of ball rather than more of one - a cheaper ball for nets and a durable one for matches, labelled separately - and budget for a few mallets so new bats get prepared rather than going straight into nets.
How do I store kit between seasons? +
Cool, dry, out of direct sunlight, and never in a car boot. Give the bat one light coat of oil before it goes away and check it once during storage. Air pads and gloves rather than sealing them in a bag - trapped damp breaks down foam - and store everything flat rather than folded, because compressed foam does not spring back.
What usually fails first at the start of a season? +
Grips, then toes. A grip that was fine in October has perished over months of storage and is slippery in the first match. A bat stored damp has taken moisture into the toe, which is end grain and absorbs faster than anywhere else. Both are entirely preventable and both are cheap to fix before rather than after.
Should I replace my batting pads before the season? +
Press the foam. If you can feel impact through it, it has compressed and is giving you the feeling of protection rather than protection itself. Also check whether a cane rod has broken or shifted - you can usually feel it as a ridge - and whether the straps still hold the pad steady. A pad that rotates is an unprotected leg.
Can I get a bat knocked in before it ships? +
Yes. Add our preparation service for ₹1,000 on any bat and we oil it, put in the full mallet work and fit fibre tape before dispatch. For pre-season that solves the timing problem entirely - you will still want thirty to sixty minutes of old-ball throwdowns, but the hours of mallet work are done.
How long does delivery take? +
Bats are built to order - five days manufacturing plus transit, typically two to three days within India and eight to fourteen days internationally. Hard tennis bats ship immediately because they are made ahead of time and need no preparation at all. Club orders are ten days manufacturing.
What if my bat needs a repair before the season? +
Send photographs on WhatsApp now rather than waiting. We repair bats of any brand, and we will tell you whether it is worth doing before you post anything. A repair plus transit takes days, which is manageable six weeks out and not manageable in the week before your first match.
The detail behind each step: how to knock in properly, how much oil to actually use, and what is repairable if the audit turns something up.
Made in Meerut · Order with time to prepare
Five days to build. Three weeks to knock in. Start now.
Bats built to order, 5 days plus transit · Club orders 10 days · Preparation service ₹1,000 — oiled, knocked in and taped before dispatch · 1000g mallet ₹800 · Grips ₹600 for six · Repairs on any brand