Cricket is turning smart. Rather, has in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. The bat, which for generations underwent little innovation except in thickness, is now a smart equipment.
A sensor, exactly the size of a pound or a 50 paise coin is being fitted at the top of the bat handle and it is allowing data to be recorded real time for the batsman taking strike.
The sensor, manufactured by Speculur and Intel Technologies, is allowing for the measurement of bat angles, if it is coming from the right direction for a particular shot, bat speed, velocity, the speed at which the bat is hitting the ball and a lot more. Revolutionary technology which has been worked on for the last few years is finally in practise and will be launched in India in the retail market in September 2017.
Most importantly the sensor isn’t going to alter the weight of the bat and will help youngsters evolve into better cricketers for it allows coaches to monitor their progress that much better. So far all that we see coaches do in nets for budding cricketers aged between 9 and 15 is tell someone that his head is not coming down properly or that his feet isn’t going to the pitch of the ball in the manner that it should. All of it is based on assumption and the experience of the coach. There is no real data to back up the assumption. And if the kid repeats the same mistake a month later, the coach will be saying the same. There is no yardstick to measure if the kid has indeed improved over a period of time and if things are better for him than it was a month earlier. With the smart bat all of it can be measured.
What was the kids bat speed or bat direction like at a given time compared to where he is over a month later will give the coach quantifiable data to monitor the progress of the kid. And what this technology does is that it adds to the aspirational aspect of playing the game. A child can now measure his quality of shot making with someone like a David Warner who is playing with this bat in the Champions Trophy. You have Warner’s data in front of you and can compare that with a budding youngster growing up in India in real time. More, the data which is being recorded can be passed on to coaches living overseas or in other cities and soon there can be an online coaching mechanism for cricket, somewhat unthinkable earlier.
Finally, the technology does help in a better quality of broadcast. As we have already seen in the Champions Trophy opener, commentators now have the data to comment on how a batsman is dealing with a fast bowler and a spinner, what is his bat speed to a particular delivery and how his bat angles change for different bowlers adding to the viewing experience of the game.
Dave Warner, one of the early advocates of this technology, suggests that it has the potential to seriously impact the future of the game going forward, “It is interesting for sure. It doesn’t make your bat any different while allowing for a variety of things and that’s what attracted me to it.
From the viewers standpoint it will add to the entertainment and for kids wanting to play the game it is a serious coaching tool.”
Nasser Hussain, who launched the technology on behalf of the ICC in London states that “it has the potential to take the game forward and make it more viewer friendly and attractive. It will also add to the improvement in playing technique for aspiring cricketers.”
Atul Srivastava, who has been working on the technology for the last three years in collaboration with Intel says “it will be launched in the Indian retail market by early September and will be affordable for most. That’s been our principal concern. We want everyone to be able to afford it and play with the smart bat. Soon we will also launch the technology with balls, helmet and shoes adding to the repertoire and making cricket a complete smart sport.”
While the purists may say what is the need to further complicate matters and take away from the essence of the game, it is perhaps pertinent to suggest that in this day and age of technology where goalline tech has revolutionised football and players use wearable tech to measure body fatigue (German players used this in the FIFA World Cup), cricket lacked the kind of technological advance that Speculur is aiming to bring in. How it impacts the future of the game is for us to wait and see but for the moment it is certainly an important step in the evolution of the game.
Source: http://bit.ly/2shU3Vy
