Case studies

Twenty20 cricket bat testing

Client: Mongoose Cricket International

Consultant: Professor Anthony Bull and team, Bioengineering Department

Expertise: Expertise and testing for new design/prototype development

The consultants shared expertise and testing in line with MCC rules to help Mongoose develop the MMi3 cricket bat which is an improvement on the standard cricket bat.

The Challenge

Mongoose Cricket International are the company behind the MMi3, the innovative new cricket bat design that has taken the Twenty20 cricket world by storm and won the 2010 Sport Industry Award for Technological Innovation. They wanted to develop a new design that was an improvement on the standard cricket bat, whilst still being within the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) rules.

The Solution

We engaged Professor Anthony Bull and his research team from the Bioengineering Department for this project as they have built up cutting edge expertise in the area, already leading to approaches from many sporting companies.

The Imperial team identified bioengineering testing and expertise that offered Mongoose the help they needed to develop a radical new cricket bat and the chance to test their design.

The Impact

By analysing the vibrations, bending stiffness and moment of inertia of the bat, Professor Bull was able to confirm that it’s speed and power were an improvement on the standard cricket bat, whilst ensuring that it complied with MCC rules.

Mongoose were very happy with the results and the revenue from the client helped fund an extension of a PhD studentship in the Bioengineering Department.

Professor Anthony Bull, comments:

This kind of interaction is key to everything we do. Lots of research ideas come through our contacts with industry, and projects like this benefit our students and department.

Professor Anthony Bull
Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London