The current design of a cane handle spliced into a willow blade was the invention in the 1880s of Charles Richardson, a pupil of Brunel and the chief engineer of the Severn railway tunnel. Bats typically weigh from 1.1 to 1.4 kilograms though there is no standard. Bats were not always this shape. Before the 18th century bats tended to be shaped similarly to a modern hockey sticks. The bat generally recognized as the oldest bat still in existence is dated 1729 and is on display in the Sandham Room at the Oval in London.
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