Designing cricket bats using parametric modeling and genetic algorithms

Cricket is a popular and increasingly wealthy bat-and-ball sport. Cricket bats made from willow are the focus of increasing scientific research and innovation, and in this paper, an innovative approach to improving the performance of cricket bats is described. Parametric modeling and genetic algorithms were used to converge the location of two points on a bat that are associated with increased velocity of a ball rebounding off bats: vibrational nodal points and center of percussion (COP). This modeling was able to reduce the distance between nodal points and COP from 174.5 to 98.1 mm. This change occurred as a result of modifications to the geometry of the bat notably shifting its mass toward its end, and keel-shaped sculpting of the back of the bat. These features are seen in some modern high-performance bats. However, the keel-shaped sculpting of the new bat was more sharply incurvate at the center and ends of the bat. The authors conclude that the combination of parametric modeling and optimization using genetic algorithms is a powerful tool for exploring virtual designs for cricket bats that are based on performance criteria, and suggest that additional novel bat designs could arise through multi-objective modeling and optimization using genetic algorithms.