Cricket Bat

"I dunno, some sort of bat here."

The Cricket Bat is a new close combat weapon introduced in Left 4 Dead 2.

The Cricket Bat is carried in the same slot as the pistols, adding yet another tactical choice to make in the game. When dropped, it can be picked up again. It kills Common Infected in one hit, along with all Special Infected minus the Tank, the Witch and the Charger. It should also not be used for chasing Special Infected, despite the one-hit-kill.

The Cricket Bat is a bludgeoning weapon, and has the ability to kill whether or not a headshot was achieved. It can cause friendly fire damage to the Survivors.

The Cricket Bat is not really meant to be used against Special Infected, because using it on a Boomer would cover you in bile, and killing a Spitter would leave you right in the middle of the goo.

Trivia

 * Shaun, the main character of the movie Shaun of the Dead used a cricket bat as a weapon against the zombies. The cricket bat's inclusion in Left 4 Dead 2 parodies this.
 * The Cricket Bat is, actually, a rare weapon to find, but, still, is fairly common at Dead Center and Swamp Fever.
 * It is odd that a Cricket Bat is included because cricket isn't a sport that is widely played by Americans. It may be a reference to the number of Australians working at Valve, and a promotional image they released commemorating the recent ashes series.
 * Apparently, shown by the game sound files, Nick and Rochelle are the only ones that know what a cricket bat is, most likely due to them having heard of/been to places that play cricket. The other characters refer to it as a paddle, a paddle bat, or as Ellis calls it at some points, "that bat thing" or "a problem solver."
 * It's possible to decapitate common infected with the cricket bat.
 * The bandage wrapping around the top end of the bat might be a reference to the Scout from Valve's Team Fortress 2's unlockable weapon, the Sandman, as his bat is also held together by a type of bandage or adhesive.