As individuals strive to improve their game and clubs hunger for success grows, more and more Grades cricketers are making use of the latest piece of cricket technology, the Silent bat.

On first appearance, a Silent bat looks like a normal one and for the most part, play like one. It is capable of displaying the full range of shots and power dependant on the individual batsman's abilities.

It differentiates from traditional bats in that it's edges have a network of nano-processors built in. This technology can, instantaneously, detect when contact with the ball has been made and can calculate the probability of a catch being successful. If the chances are high, the sound of the contact is inhibited, to such a degree that only members of the fielding side can hear it. Umpires, the batsman and his team mates cannot. 

Some Grades clubs have called for the Silent bat to be outlawed and random checks to be introduced (in much the same way as professional baseball authorities have done over the issue of "corked" bats).

Aluminium bat