Abstract: A ball (100) for use in bat and ball games wherein the ball is struck with a bat having an untensioned, rigid ball-striking surface, includes a hollow spherical impact body (112) having a mass of between 10 g and 50 g which enables the use of lightweight bats. The wall of the impact body is of a resiliently compressible material and defines a convexly curved impact zone IB. The ball further includes a flight control assembly (114) including a tail (50) comprising flexible streamers (52), a spacer stem (54) and an anchor fitting (126) for anchoring the spacer stem to the impact body. The configuration of the impact body is such that the impact zone compresses to a minimum compression depth of 12 mm and the impact body bounces to a height of at least 100 cm when the impact body is subjected to a drop test wherein the impact body is dropped onto a test impact surface.

Abstract: A ball (100) for use in bat and ball games wherein the ball is struck with a bat having an untensioned, rigid ball-striking surface, includes a hollow spherical impact body (112) having a mass of between 10 g and 50 g which enables the use of light-weight bats. The wall of the impact body is of a resiliently compressible material and defines a convexly curved impact zone IB. The ball further includes a flight control assembly (114) including a tail (50) comprising flexible streamers (52), a spacer stem (54) and an anchor fitting (126) for anchoring the spacer stem to the impact body. The configuration of the impact body is such that the impact zone compresses to a minimum compression depth of 12 mm and the impact body bounces to a height of at least 100 cm when the impact body is subjected to a drop test wherein the impact body is dropped onto a test impact surface.