Oiling your Governor

1. Give your new bat a few coats of oil over a few days on the face, edges, toe and back, using a soft rag.

2. Leave in a horizontal position after oiling.

3. Knock in bat. Refer "Knocking-in your Governor"

4. Use only Raw linseed oil or special bat oil.

5. Lightly sand and oil bat every 3-4 weeks.  Use a fine grade of sandpaper before oiling in direction of willow grain.

DON’T

1. Stand your bat in oil.

2. Oil the splice area.

3. Over-oil the bat.

Knocking-in your Governor

Knocking-in is the compressing of the willow fibres to form a protective barrier against impact damage of the cricket ball.  While I do some of this for you during the manufacturing/pressing process you will still need to put in some work, which if done thoroughly may well extend the life of your cricket bat.

1. Oil your bat before breaking-in. (Refer "Oiling your Governor").

2. Use a bat/ball mallet in the hand (a ball in a sock is of little use).

3. Use the mallet like a hammer, deflecting gently off the edges, the way the ball might in a game.

4. Increase the force and work the edges until they show a more rounded, compacted appearance.

5. Use your Governor to hit short catches and throw downs in the net after the initial "knocking-in.

6. Do not use or face new balls during this time (especially cheaper/harder balls).

NOTE: If there are seam marks and indentations during the above "STOP" and go back to step 4.