It was in the year 1620 that the earliest cricket bat is believed to be used. It was when a batsman perhaps hit the fields using a bat in order to prevent him from catching the ball. Those days, the bat used was similar to the modern hockey stick mainly because at that time, rolling the arm was not in practice.
In the late 1700s, the cricket bat started taking a rectangular form. In fact, there weren’t any limitations on the shape or size of the cricket bat back then.
English Willow trees were used to make cricket bats during those times.
In the late 1800s, CC Bussey of English, a bat manufacturer started using sapwood trees to make bats. These bats were lighter and wield. Over time, sapwood came to be called “white willow”.
At the beginning of the twentieth-century players like Vijay Merchant, Don Bradman and Wally Hammond used bats that were similar in shape and size but varied in weight.
It was in the mid-1900s that the real revolution started. Kashmiri willow was used largely in India and Pakistan and it weighed almost the same as English Willow; however, it was less durable.
The infographic clearly explains how the cricket bat evolved.
Today, cricketers use bats that are less durable but more effective.