Cricket Bat

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

The cricket bat has unlimited uses, and can be carried for an unlimited time. It kills all Common Infected in one hit, along with all Special Infected minus the Tank, the Witch and the Charger. 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.

The cricket bat should not be used against Boomers, for obvious reasons. 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. Using on a Charger, Jockey, Hunter, or Smoker, it would take time to reach them. Against a Tank or Witch it would do little to no damage.

Trivia

 * It may also at one point have been meant to resemble a boat oar, due to its appearance in a small boat house in a demo version of Swamp Fever shown at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2009.
 * 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 may reference to this. It may also 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."