For all those batters who face problems with swing and seam or have weaknesses against spin bowling, Roland Butcher has extended a helping hand. Butcher, England’s first-ever black cricketer, has come up with three specially designed bats that cricketers can use at training sessions in order to address their technical flaws.

That, he thinks, will help them when they use the usual bats during game time. The special bats were unveiled at Lord’s on Monday. “As of now, these bats are being distributed online in the United Kingdom only. “Within a week or two, we do expect these bats to be put to use during practice by some of the cricketers here,” Barbados-born Butcher, who represented England in three Tests and as many ODIs, told The Telegraph from London on Thursday.

Throughout his professional career, Butcher, a right-handed batsman, found it tough to deal with the ball that comes back into the batsman. After his retirement, he came upon the idea to design a bat which could help correct that particular technical aspect alongside tackling off-spin. The second bat was designed to master the away swing and leg-spin.

And the third was for mastering spin in general, fast bowling and boosting concentration level. In 2002, Butcher registered his three bat inventions with the ICC and they were then sent to Loughborough University for testing. The scientific study and testing were conducted by the Wolfson School of mechanical, electrical and manufacturing engineering at the same university. The process took a couple of years to complete and in 2004, Butcher was handed a complete and comprehensive thesis.

“The thesis from Loughborough University confirmed scientifically that all the bats worked and produced the exact results I was anticipating,” he said. Butcher believes these bats could be of bigger help for cricketers of the ICC Associate nations like Scotland and the Netherlands. He’s looking for distributors in the Indian market as well. Legend’s praise Butcher’s efforts have also drawn praise from the legendary Garry Sobers. “I have seen your training bat and it is ingenious. You have carried on since retiring from the game in so many facets of cricket. Coaching. Junior development. Administration. Commentating. And now even invention! “You can be most proud of the contribution you have made,” Sobers said in a text message to Butcher.