Cricket batting practice

Abstract

A device (1) for cricket batting practice comprising a support structure (3), an arm (5) carrying a strikable portion (7), and a joint (9) by which the arm is suspended from the support structure to swing forwards to carry the strikable portion from a nadir obliquely upwards into a strike zone in which the strikable portion is strikable to drive the arm to swing rearwardly. A return mechanism (11) takes energy from the arm swinging rearwardly and returns the energy to swing the arm forwards.

Description

[0001] P1924PCAU

[0002] 1

[0003] CRICKET BATTING PRACTICE FIELD

[0004] The invention relates to cricket batting practice.

[0005] BACKGROUND

[0006] Cricket is a ball-striking game in which a batter strikes the ball after it bounces on a pitch.

[0007] The invention aims to provide improvements, or at least alternatives, in and for cricket batting practice.

[0008] SUMMARY

[0009] One aspect of the invention provides a device for cricket batting practice comprising

[0010] a support structure;

[0011] an arm carrying a strikable portion; and

[0012] a joint by which the arm is suspended from the support structure to swing forwards to carry the strikable portion from a nadir obliquely upwards into a strike zone in which the strikable portion is strikable to drive the arm to swing rearwardly; and

[0013] a return mechanism to take energy from the arm swinging rearwardly and return the energy to swing the arm forwards.

[0014] Preferably, at the nadir the strikable portion is not more than 300 mm (e.g. not more than 200 mm or more preferably not more than 100 mm) above a floor level upon which a batter stands. Most preferably, the strikable portion rises at leastP1924PCAU

[0015] 2

[0016] 50 mm (e.g. at least 100 mm or more preferably at least 150 mm) as it moves forward over a horizontal distance of 650 mm from the nadir.

[0017] Optionally, the joint is a joint by which the arm is mounted to swing side-to-side, in which case the arm is preferably resiliently biased towards a laterally intermediate orientation. Preferably, the joint is at least 1.0 m (e.g. at least 1.15 m or more preferably at least 1.3 m) above a or the floor level upon which a batter stands. Preferably, the joint is not more than 1.6 m (e.g. not more than 1.5 m or more preferably not more than 1.45 m) above a or the floor level upon which a batter stands.

[0018] The arm is shaped to define a setback to clear a batter’s hands. Preferably, in fore-aft vertical cross-section the setback clears all portions, more than 100 mm from the strikable portion, of a notional triangle comprising a first edge, a second edge and third edge;

[0019] the first edge

[0020] is coincident with a notional straight line connecting the strikable portion to the joint;

[0021] is at least 800 mm long; and

[0022] the second edge and the third edge are of the same length as each other and connect to each other at a corner at least 150 mm (e.g. at least 250 mm or more preferably at least 300 mm) from the first edge.

[0023] Optionally, the return mechanism comprises one or more resilient elements which may comprise one or more resilient chords. According to preferred embodiments, one or more of the one or more resilient elements act on an extension, of the arm, extending above the joint.

[0024] In an embodiment, the arm comprises an extension above the joint; andP1924PCAU

[0025] 3

[0026] at rest one or more of the one or more resilient chords extend obliquely upwards and rearwards from the extension to an anchor point.

[0027] The extension may comprise a front chord-guiding-portion

[0028] convex in a fore-aft vertical cross-section;

[0029] facing the strike zone;

[0030] about which at rest at least one front chord of the one or more resilient chords turns to extend obliquely upwards and rearwards to an anchor point; and

[0031] onto which the at least one front chord winds as the arm swings rearward.

[0032] The extension may comprise a rear chord-guiding-portion

[0033] convex in fore-aft vertical cross-section;

[0034] facing away from the strike zone;

[0035] about which at rest at least one rear chord of the one or more resilient chords turns to extend obliquely upwards and rearwards to an or the anchor point; and

[0036] onto which the at least one rear chord winds as the arm swings forward.

[0037] In an embodiment one or more of the one or more resilient elements are engaged as the arm swings rearwardly and disengaged as the arm swings forward.

[0038] Another aspect of the invention provides a method comprising striking, with a cricket bat, the strikable portion of the device.

[0039] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0040] Figure 1 is a side view of a batter moments before striking a ball;P1924PCAU

[0041] 4

[0042] Figure 2 is a side view of a batting practice device;

[0043] Figure 3 is an enlargement of a top portion of the device of Figure 2;

[0044] Figure 4 is a front view of the device of Figure 2; and

[0045] Figures 5 and 6 are perspective views showing different configurations of the device of Figure 2.

[0046] DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0047] The device 1 comprises support structure 3, an arm 5 carrying a strikable portion 7, a joint 9, and a return mechanism 11.

[0048] This example of the support structure comprises floor-engaging base 3a, a ceiling 3b and four legs 3c mutually connecting the base 3a and the ceiling 3b. The support structure 3 is at least mostly formed of tube steel. In this example, it is 025 mm tubular aluminium. 022mm lightweight steel is another good option.

[0049] The arm 5 is mostly made up of a single piece of tube steel (also of 025 mm in this example). Arm 5 comprises three bends 5a, 5b, 5c of 45°, 50° and 25° respectively and by which the arms are segmented. Preferably, measured from the joint the first segment is 700±100 mm long, the second segment is 600±100 mm long and the final segment (including the strikable portion 7) is 300±50 mm long.

[0050] Figure 2 shows the arm 5 extended from the joint 9 and hanging in its upright at-rest configuration.

[0051] The joint 9, in the illustrated example, takes the form of a simple solid axle that runs horizontally across the device through complementary transverse holes formed in each of the front two legs 3c and a complementary hole passing through the arm 5. The vast majority of the arm 5 is below the joint 9 whilst a short extension comprising the bend 5a and a chord guide 11a constitutes an extension of the arm above the joint 9.P1924PCAU

[0052] 5

[0053] In this example, the joint 9 is a simple pivotal joint by which the arm 5 is mounted to swing forwards (to the right as illustrated in Figure 2) and backwards (to the left as illustrated in Figure 2) to carry the strikable portion along a circular path. Other swing joints are possible, e.g. a virtual pivot joint or a gear hinge might be adopted to vary the path traversed by the strikable portion 7. In this way, the strikable portion is mounted to swing through a nadir and rise therefrom in a manner akin to a cricket ball rising from a cricket pitch. Accordingly, at the nadir the strikable portion is preferably close to the ground, e.g. not more than 100 mm or more preferably not more than 75 mm from the ground. In this example, at the nadir the strikable portion is about 50 mm from the ground (e.g. there is an about 50 mm gap between the strikable portion and the ground).

[0054] Turning to Figure 3, the chord guide 11a comprises a round body with a circumferential chord-receiving groove and rigidly fixed to the upper end of the arm 5a. The groove round in cross-section (axial and radial to the round body of the guide) to receive chords 11 bi, 11 bn. The chords 11 bi, 11 bn act between anchor points 3bi, 3bn which in this example are on the underside of the ceiling 3b. Anchor points low down on chord guide 11a, adjacent the tubular body of the arm 5a.

[0055] Striking the strikable portion 7 so as to drive it rearwardly (to the left in Figure 2) causes the chord guide 11a to move to the right. With this movement, the front chord 11 bi is stretched and wound onto the chord guide 11a so that the rate at which the chord 11 bi is stretched for a given angular velocity of the arm increases as the arm moves rearwardly away from its at-rest position. In this way, the chord 11 bi can strongly drive the arm 5 in its forward direction when the arm is rearmost, and then impact of the front chord 11 bi is reduced as the arm swings through the rest position and on to the striking zone. In this way the acceleration of the strikable portion 7 approaching the strike zone more closely resembles the acceleration of a cricket ball in flight.

[0056] Rear chord 11 bi functions in a manner corresponding to the front chord 11 bi in reverse. As the arm 5a swings forward (and the strikable portion 7 rises upwardlyP1924PCAU

[0057] 6

[0058] into a striking zone), the rear chord 11 bi has little impact on acceleration of the arm but, with additional movement in this direction of rotation, the rear chord 11bn continues winding onto to the arm 3a so that as the strikable portion 7 rises past the striking zone, rear chord 11 bii provides rapidly increasing restoring force to rearwardly drive the arm if a batter misses a rapidly rising / advancing strikable portion 7.

[0059] The return mechanism is preferably adjustable to vary the rate and manner in which the strikable portion is returned. In this example, resilient elements are added, removed, repositioned and swapped out for chords of differing stiffness and for this purpose at least some of the elements are releasably attached to the arm and / or to the support structure. For this purpose the support structure comprise four or more, or preferably six or more, defined anchor points to which the resilient elements are releasably attachable.

[0060] In this example the anchor points take the form of eyelets co-operable with hooks on the ends of resilient chords. Figure 5 shows a resilient chord 11c routed through an eyelet 5d on the arm. Hooks on the ends of the chord 11c are attached to eyelets 3G on the front legs 3c.

[0061] Figure 6 shows a chord 11d routed through eyelet 3CH on one the rear legs and having both ends hooked on to the eyelet 3CH on the other of the rear legs. In this way the chord 11d is double over to define a stiff return element that is engaged and disengaged as the arm moves back and forth past a threshold rearward of the nadir. In this way chord 11d is configured to forcefully return the arm which impacts on the arm’s acceleration forward of the threshold.

[0062] Resilient elements other than resilient chords are possible, e.g. the one or more of the chords 11 bi, 11 bn, 11c might be swapped out for one or more tension springs and entirely different resilient elements such as compression springs, leaf springs and torsion springs are possible. Dampening elements are also possible, e.g. the joint 9 may comprise a torsional dampener to enable a batter to practise forceful strokes without facing the strikable portion being delivered in return with the sameP1924PCAU

[0063] 7

[0064] force. As such, preferred embodiments enable a user to repetitively strike or otherwise engage with a ball replacement. Engagement such as catching is possible and some embodiments may be used to practise wicket-keeping.

[0065] Preferred embodiments allow for solo practice without repeatedly chasing and retrieving a ball.

[0066] In the illustrated variant, the arm 5a is mounted to swing from side to side. This is achieved by oversizing the transverse hole through the arm 5a through which the axle 9 passes. This provides some side-to-side movement akin to the side-to-side variation that a batter would face from a bowler. More elaborate joints 9 are possible. By way of example, the joint 9 might comprise a compound pair of pivotal joints or a ball joint to facilitate swinging forwards and backwards and swinging from side to side. Preferably, the arm is biased towards an intermediate lateral point. In this example, anchor points 3bi, 3bn are centered above the arm 5 whereby the chords 11 bi, 11 bn centre the arm 5. Other arrangements are possible, e.g. the arm might be centred by a pair of tension elements in place of the chord 11c of Figure 5 and each acting between the arm 5 and a respective eyelet 3G.

[0067] As shown in Figure 1 , for certain cricket strokes the batter’s hands H lead the bat B. Accordingly, preferred variants of the arm comprise a setback SB by which the arm is set back from a notional straight line NL connecting the joint 9 to the strikable portion 7 to clear the batter’s hands.

[0068] Other shapes are possible, but at least approximately spherical (e.g. hemispherical) contacting portions are preferred. The position of the strikable portion is characterise by a radial centre of its spherical surface in this example. In this example, the strikeable portion comprises a 072 mm polyethylene ball. Whilst rigid, the polyethylene allows sufficient rebounding properties to cushion ball striking and give realistic feedback to the participant to gauge the quality of contact with a standard cricket bat. A 42 mm deep socket is cut into the ball to receive the end of the tubular body of the arm.P1924PCAU

[0069] 8

[0070] The illustrated example comprises a setback SB of about 400 mm from a notional line NL mutually connecting the strikable portion 7 to the joint 9. The corner 5b is approximately equidistant from the joint 9 and the strikable portion 7, whereby items 5b, 7, 9 define the vertices of an isosceles triangle (when viewed in side elevation). Corner 5c is set back further from the edge of this notional triangle NT. In this way the front of the arm bounds a clearance area comprising a notional isosceles triangle and an additional triangular space adjacent corner 5c.

[0071] This geometry creates extra clearance immediately adjacent the strikable portion 7, but advantageous embodiments may do without this additional clearance. Indeed, the notional isosceles clearance triangle may be advantageous even with some impingement immediately adjacent to (say, within 100 mm of) the strikable portion 7.

[0072] Preferably, the joint 9 is at least 1.0 m above floor level, e.g. at least 1.2 m. In this example, the joint is about 1365 mm above the ground. According to preferred embodiments, the strike zone wherein the strikable portion will typically be struck is about 650 mm forward of the nadir but the strike zone is not the only area in which the strikable portion might be struck. Preferred embodiments enable the batter to step forward to play the “ball” close to the nadir to practise facing yorkers and full-toss deliveries and to step back to practise facing bouncers.

[0073] The invention is not limited to the examples disclosed herein. Rather, the invention is defined by the claims, e.g. whereas a support structure in the form of a simple frame that sits on the floor has been described another example of the support structure may comprise a wall-mounting system and yet another example may comprise a brace that spans a doorway.

[0074] The term “comprises” and its grammatical variants has a meaning that is determined by the context in which it appears. Accordingly, the term should not be interpreted exhaustively unless the context dictates so. Likewise, the article “a” or “an” preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements unless the context dictates so.

Claims

P1924PCAU9CLAIMS1. A device for cricket batting practice comprisinga support structure;an arm carrying a strikable portion; anda joint by which the arm is suspended from the support structure to swing forwards to carry the strikable portion from a nadir obliquely upwards into a strike zone in which the strikable portion is strikable to drive the arm to swing rearwardly; anda return mechanism to take energy from the arm swinging rearwardly and return the energy to swing the arm forwards.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein at the nadir the strikable portion is not more than 300 mm above a floor level upon which a batter stands.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein at the nadir the strikable portion is not more than 200 mm above a floor level upon which a batter stands.

4. The device of claim 1 , 2 or 3 wherein the strikable portion rises at least 50 mm as it moves forward over a horizontal distance of 650 mm from the nadir.

5. The device of claim 1 , 2 or 3 wherein the strikable portion rises at least 100 mm as it moves forward over a horizontal distance of 650 mm from the nadir.

6. The device of any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the joint is a joint by which the arm is mounted to swing side-to-side.

7. The device of claim 6 wherein the arm is resiliently biased towards a laterally intermediate orientation.P1924PCAU108. The device of any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein the joint is at least 1.0 m above a or the floor level upon which a batter stands.

9. The device of any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein the arm is shaped to define a setback to clear a or the batter’s hands.

10. The device of claim 9 wherein in fore-aft vertical cross-section the setback clears all portions, more than 100 mm from the strikable portion, of a notional triangle comprising a first edge, a second edge and third edge;the first edgeis coincident with a notional straight line connecting the strikable portion to the joint;is at least 800 mm long; andthe second edge and the third edge are of the same length as each other and connect to each other at a corner at least 150 mm from the first edge.

11. The device of any one of claims 1 to 10 wherein the return mechanism comprises one or more resilient elements.

12. The device of claim 11 wherein the one or more resilient elements comprise one or more resilient chords.

13. The device of claim 11 or 12 wherein one or more of the one or more resilient elements act on an extension, of the arm, extending above the joint.

14. The device of claim 12 whereinthe arm comprises an extension above the joint; andP1924PCAU11at rest one or more of the one or more resilient chords extend obliquely upwards and rearwards from the extension to an anchor point.

15. The device of claim 14 wherein the extension comprises a front chord-guiding- portionconvex in a fore-aft vertical cross-section;facing the strike zone;about which at rest at least one front chord of the one or more resilient chords turns to extend obliquely upwards and rearwards to an anchor point; andonto which the at least one front chord winds as the arm swings rearward.

16. The device of claim 14 or 15 wherein the extension comprises a rear chord-guiding- portionconvex in fore-aft vertical cross-section;facing away from the strike zone;about which at rest at least one rear chord of the one or more resilient chords turns to extend obliquely upwards and rearwards to an or the anchor point; andonto which the at least one rear chord winds as the arm swings forward.

17. The device of any one of claims 11 to 16 wherein one or more of the one or more resilient elements are engaged as the arm swings rearwardly and disengaged as the arm swings forward.

18. A method comprising striking, with a cricket bat, the strikable portion of the device of any one of claims 1 to 17.

Images