The subject of bat thickness was discussed by the MCC's cricket brains trust recently, and limitations will almost certainly be written into the Laws in 2017, but the chances are that even restricted bats will still be too massive for comfort.

Ultra-thick bats have given batsmen a clear advantage in the delicate ecosystem of bat and ball. This is what the  MCC World Cricket Committee think, echoing a similar view expressed by the ICC. It is a problem affecting the game at all levels.

The MCC panel, chaired by Mike Brearley, made the valid point that the safety of close fielders and umpires had become an issue, not just the ease of six-hitting. "The recreational game is also suffering, as balls are flying into nearby residential properties with increasing frequency, thus threatening the existence of some smaller cricket clubs."

The MCC, guardians of the Laws, have changed their minds on this. Brearley's world panel assessed a specially commissioned report on the bat 'sweet spot' in 2014 and announced they felt no changes were needed - while continuing to monitor the situation. In 2015 their concern deepened after an analysis of World Cup patterns.

In February this year the ICC chief executive Dave Richardson went on record, saying: "The balance may have shifted a little bit too much because sometimes poor shots or mis-hits are going for six. Let us try and rectify that." This view was endorsed by the ICC cricket committee at their meeting at Lord's last month.

In January the fastest international one-day century was achieved by AB de Villiers. He needed only 31 balls against the West Indies at Johannesburg as South Africa racked up 439-2 off 50 overs, with three batsmen scoring hundreds for the first time in  a one-day innings. While the bowling might have been weak on a run-glut Wanderers ground, this ridiculous hitting followed a trend. Rohit Sharma scored 264 off 173 balls against Sri Lanka at Kolkata in 2015, the highest one-day score to date. De Villiers hit 16 sixes in his 149, and amid this sort of mayhem umpires are having to consider protective equipment.

The brilliance of de Villiers and Sharma threw the bat issue into sharp focus. The  MCC World Committee announced they agreed with the ICC that " further limitations to the edge, depth and possibly to the weight should now be introduced".

The MCC panel said that one proposal would be for the maximum thickness of the edge to be between 35mm and 40mm, and the overall depth of the bat to be between 60mm and 65mm. They noted that some bats in current use had edges of 55mm and could be up to 80mm deep. "Further consultations will be held with bat manufacturers and scientists to finalise the exact measurements, and the means of evaluating them, as well as to investigate the viability and need for a weight limit," the panel concluded.

One could argue that the suggested limits are too generous as the traditional cricket bat used to have an edge of about 14mm and overal thickness of about 45mm until at least the 1970s when the first bats with substantially more wood  were introduced. The Gray-Nicolls Scoop, for example, boasted a 34mm edge and overall thickness of 47mm - nothing like as thick overall as the 65mm suggested by the MCC as a limit. The proposed edge of 40mm might seem still absurdly thick compared with the traditional 14mm.

The Laws are written for all cricket, not just professional, so that the issue of safety alone would be a valid reason to get rid of these ultra-thick bats.

The MCC report, compiled by Imperial College London in 2014, covered several makes of Gray-Nicolls bat and noted that the Nemesis, at 69mm with a 41mm edge, was three times thicker than regular old-fashioned bats used through the ages. Since then bats have grown ever thicker.

Another Law change could be made, concerning Law 42.15 on the bowler attempting to run out non-striker before delivery. The MCC World Committee’s unanimous view was that there should be a change to mirror the current ICC playing condition that requires the non-striker to remain inside the crease before the point of release of the ball, rather than on entering delivery stride. The MCC panel said: "A non-striker who is out of his crease before the point of release is either taking an advantage or is acting carelessly, and runs the risk of being legitimately run out."

MCC World Committee (attending):

Mike Brearley (chairman), Jimmy Adams, Charlotte Edwards, Sourav Ganguly, Rod Marsh, Tim May,  Ricky Ponting, Ramiz Raja, David Richardson, Vincent Van Der Bijl. 

www.club-cricket.co.uk/news/details/405