Pin Knot

• The most common blemish found is the small knot or “pin knot”. These are generally up to 10 mm in diameter and are still living. Normally they will be present in the edge and / or back of the bat although sometimes they are visible on the face. They will not affect the playing of the bat at all.
  

Speck

• “Speck” in fact is a small cavity running longitudinally and following the grain in a radial direction. The specks are consistent with damage caused to the growing tree by small flies. Adult flies lay eggs inside the bark, and the larvae feed on the nutrients in the layer between the bark and the wood. Wound tissue forms over the tunnels, and this is eventually included in the timber, forming the speck.The speck is purely cosmetic and does not have any detrimental effect on the bat.
  

Butterfly Stain

• This is “Butterfly Stain”, so called as it resembles the wings and body of a butterfly. It is attributed to pruning and frost damage, especially by hard pruning of larger branches that causes scarring in the timber, it adds strength to the finished bat, giving longer life of the bat with much less likely hood of breakage.
  

False Growth

• A common blemish is the “False Growth”. This is caused when the tree has stopped growing for maybe one season. It can be caused by drought, fire or weed killer. Nine times out of ten there is no weakness in the bat, and they will certainly not break along the False Growth. It will normally run parallel to the normal grains.
  

Dead Knot

• This is a “dead knot”. Something no one prefers on their bats. The tree has been trimmed up very late and the resulting branch has been left to grow for many years. Before this can be used to make a bat the knot is drilled out and filled. As long as it is not on the face of the bat it will have very little detrimental effect on the playability.
  

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