Are Toe guards good for the bat?

[smasher1980]

Hello,

I was wondering if Toe guards are good for the bat and it's balance. I have never seen any International cricketer sporting a Toe guard on their bats...it makes me wonder if a toe guard is really a good thing to have. My understanding is that the toe guard prevent wear and tear and absorption of moisture from the surface. Is that correct?

[straightdrive1]

Toe guards can help the bat to a certain extent....

It prevents wear & tear in the toe made by crease tapping....

International players have no limitation of bats so they can use or not use toe guard...Their choice...


I personally don't like it & don't use it because after you apply the toe guard it will only take a matter of time for it to come out....

[90MPH]

Yes it prevents water getting in once cracks open up.

You dont have to put a guard, you could put on oil or shoe goo instead.

[Cricketismylife]

Shoo goo the best

[ammo]

shoo goo for the win can get one tube fore the price of 2 guards and you get heaps of applications

[langer17]

Hello,

I was wondering if Toe guards are good for the bat and it's balance. I have never seen any International cricketer sporting a Toe guard on their bats...it makes me wonder if a toe guard is really a good thing to have. My understanding is that the toe guard prevent wear and tear and absorption of moisture from the surface. Is that correct?

International players don't have to pay for their gear, and they can simply get more when a bat breaks (they can also buy them from other people and sticker them up, but to them the amount of money it costs is nothing). It is very different when you have to pay a lot of money for a bat and cannot simply get another when that one breaks, so some sort of protection to the toe helps. I personally don't like toe guards, I prefer shoe goo, which does the same thing but it can simply be re-applied once it has worn down a little. Shoe goo will also last longer than a Toe Guard will.

Basically Shoe goo, or a toe guard, acts as a barrier for between the bat and say, a wet pitch or wet wicket block, and stops the wood from getting wet and consequently stop it from swelling and cracking.

[smasher1980]

What is this Shoe Goo...never heard of it...

I understand that Intl players have lots of bats..but u do see players using the same bat for years...i was wondering how do they avoid the wear and tear.

[straightdrive1]

What is this Shoe Goo...never heard of it...

I understand that Intl players have lots of bats..but u do see players using the same bat for years...i was wondering how do they avoid the wear and tear.

As far as I know:

One of their bats last 1 season..

& yes their bats also have a lot of wear & tear but the camera does not pick 'em up cleanly....

For example you may see a lot of players applying fiber tape to their bat....

Which means that the bat was/is a bit damaged....

[straightdrive1]

Check this thread,Tendo made 13 centuries with this bat & look at its condition!

http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/sh...d.php?t=109125

[langer17]

What is this Shoe Goo...never heard of it...

I understand that Intl players have lots of bats..but u do see players using the same bat for years...i was wondering how do they avoid the wear and tear.

International players bats would not last anymore than 1 year, and would be considerably less, simply because of the amount cricket they play. cricket is their job so they train and play all the time, which means they are constantly using their bats and would go through a fair few in a year.

Can't really avoid wear and tear (unless you don't use the bat), but you can help to reduce and slow it down.

[ammo]

We are not international players so we use toe guard or other protection to help our bat last as long as possible

[i12breakfree]

Shoe goo is the best

[hsikandar]

Shoe goo is the best

I think like everything else out there, cricket bat needs maintenance. I mean i am not talking about cheap cricket bat but if you have an expensive bat then you should definitely consider putting some sort of protection at the toe. Like some of the people mentioned above, you have couple of options, toe guard, toe glue, tape.

https://www.cricketbestbuy.com

[Big Mac]

Random bumping of a thread but add another vote for Shoe Goo. Way better than a toe guard which looks good on the bat until you start using it and it comes right off.

Here's a video of Julian Millichamp, who has forgotten more about bats than the rest of us will ever know, explaining how to apply it to the toe.

https://youtu.be/Z_e3AFndzmM?t=8m32s


Skip to around 8:30 for the Shoe Goo bit but the whole video is great if you have questions about oiling, knocking in, bat repair etc.