Most of the cricket bats are made from a soft fibrous timber which has power and durability to perform in ground but its qualities needs to be enhanced during production by pressing and drying. Everyone should knock in any new bat for at least six hours which will help condition your bat for heavy usage without damaging it. I have seen players go out to the field with a brand new bat, which had not been knocked in and bat resulted in a fatal crack in the toe of the bat in the first over. So knocking is a mandatory step in the production of a cricket bat.
One more thing knocking should be done in a proper way. To knock in your bat it is highly recommended to use an old high quality cricket ball. If you are doing this by yourself, keep some points in mind like; be gentle in tapping the bat, particularly focusing in on the edges as these are the very weak part of the bat and make the edges slightly round. Spend at least two to three hours in knocking stage and make sure you cover all the faces of the bat but don’t knock-in the back of the bat.
After you have done with this, slowly increase the force with which you hit the bat and make sure you cover all of the face of the bat. By the end you should be hitting the bat with full force to simulate the impact of a real cricket ball.
After you have done with this, slowly increase the force with which you hit the bat and make sure you cover all of the face of the bat. By the end you should be hitting the bat with full force to simulate the impact of a real cricket ball.