During the mid-2000s, Ricky Ponting’s graphite-reinforced bat was called into question by the ICC and was eventually deemed to be illegal.
The controversy began to take shape in April 2005 when the MCC, guardians of the laws of the game, were asked to look into the legality of Ricky Ponting’s ‘Kahuna’ Kookaburra bat at the request of ICC. They were to see if the graphite-coated bat complied with laws related to the composition of the blade and the thickness of any covering material. They were also to check if the ball was damaged after the impact from the willow.
In response, Ricky Ponting said: “I’ve been using that bat for five or six years, it’s just the sticker that’s changed this year. I’ve just had a real laugh at it so far, I’ve not really thought too much about it or where it started from.”
MCC were supposed to look at the design of the bat, and determine if it complied with the laws, or gave him an unfair advantage, while Ponting was to be allowed to use the bat in the meantime. At that moment Ponting was in the middle of his purple patch with the willow: from December 2003 to the date MCC started investigating (April 22, 2005), he averaged 70.57 in Tests, and 42.57 in ODIs.
Bat manufacturers Kookaburra defended their creation, stating that the sticker on Ponting’s bat and its graphite backing were legal.
“It’s an interwoven fabric of carbon and graphite which we’ve adhered to the back of the bat to strengthen and protect the blade. It complies with the laws of cricket” Rob Elliot, the then managing director of Kookaburra, said. “We’re allowed to protect and reinforce the blade with a material which is not more than 1.56 millimetres thick, and that’s what we’ve done.
“Over the years, bat makers have put materials like pigskin, PVC film, poly armour and nylon fabrics on the face of the bat. We’ve come from another approach. We decided we’d use a sophisticated material that is bonded to the back of the bat. Graphite is black, so we can’t put it on the front.”
It became clear in May 2005 that this controversy wasn’t going to die any sooner. ICC announced that its sub-committee, headed by Sunil Gavaskar, would study the issue further, while Ponting would be allowed to use the bat during the process.
The committee was supposed to look into several issues, these included the usage of carbon graphite, the width and depth of bats, and ‘corking’. Corking is a practice where the inside wooden part of the bat is removed, and replaced with cork to make it lighter and easier to swing.
Malcolm Speed, then ICC chief executive added that the cricketing body had grown wary of the usage of enhanced bats: “During the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 there were a number of oversized bats detected and manufacturers were put on notice that it was expected that they would produce bats that comply with the laws at all times.”
Ponting was allowed to use the bat for several more months before it was declared illegal by the ICC in February 2006.
The MCC had informed that the graphite-reinforced bat contravened Law 6, and thus, was illegal. By then, Kookaburra had withdrawn the bats from international cricket.
In March 2006 the ICC said that all graphite-reinforced bats would be withdrawn from first-class cricket by October 2006. Other than Ponting, this bat was also used by Damien Martyn, Justin Langer, and Sanath Jayasuriya.
There was little impact of this decision on Ponting’s form. Between March 2006 to the end of the 2007 ODI World Cup, Ponting averaged 74.33 in Tests, and 51.32 in ODIs.
