Custom Bats Cricket Forum

Companies => Off-the-shelf companies => Topic started by: lazza32 on November 14, 2013, 01:31:31 PM

Title: M & H CK22
Post by: lazza32 on November 14, 2013, 01:31:31 PM
just found this by accident.

http://hryss.kredp.servertrust.com/ck22-cricket-bat-p/mh-ck22.htm (http://hryss.kredp.servertrust.com/ck22-cricket-bat-p/mh-ck22.htm)
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: ItsJustCricket on November 14, 2013, 01:43:53 PM
Nice to see we are selling it for less!  :)
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: lazza32 on November 14, 2013, 01:48:40 PM
I finally get to buy a bat from you Paul.
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: jwebber86 on November 14, 2013, 01:55:16 PM
nice looking bat. cant imagine i would ever spend that much on a bat though not sure my skill can justify it
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: Red Ink Cricket on November 14, 2013, 02:03:49 PM
got to say the bat looks good but the stickers are horrible. much prefer the standard M&H sticker ranges. look alot classier than these.
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: Alvaro on November 14, 2013, 02:05:17 PM
What's the benefit of a sharp middle?
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: lazza32 on November 14, 2013, 02:09:01 PM
What's the benefit of a sharp middle?

you can cut easier ;)
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: Alvaro on November 14, 2013, 02:10:03 PM
Nice one Lazza :D
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: mdg20 on November 14, 2013, 02:12:55 PM
Looks ok, really like the design of the keeping glvoes and the batting gloves arnt bad. Not sure on the large badge at the bototm of the batting pads though.
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: GarrettJ on November 14, 2013, 02:42:52 PM
have m&H discontinued the Distinction?
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: mattw on November 14, 2013, 02:47:07 PM
got to say the bat looks good but the stickers are horrible. much prefer the standard M&H sticker ranges. look alot classier than these.

Got to agree with this - for me I think this damages their brand, it should be a higher end bat than the rest - however it looks like a much cheaper design.
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: ItsJustCricket on November 14, 2013, 02:57:20 PM
have m&H discontinued the Distinction?

yes
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: jamesisapayne on November 14, 2013, 03:12:06 PM
I'm struggling to why the stickers are causing so much negativity. I think they're fantastic, almost art deco in style.

Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: GarrettJ on November 14, 2013, 03:31:54 PM
yes

 :( the 2010 version were perfection

must be struggling to get the oversized clefts
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: trypewriter on November 14, 2013, 03:38:56 PM
Surprised that no one has had a rant about the price yet.  ;)
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: mr_wickets on November 14, 2013, 03:44:29 PM
I'm pretty surprised M&H have done a 'player' range of kit. I always thought it looked a bit tacky and wouldn't have thought a brand like M&H would do it.

Craig Kieswetter hardly fits their classic image.
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: lazza32 on November 14, 2013, 05:29:57 PM
Surprised that no one has had a rant about the price yet.  ;)

It's expensive for every UK buyer but for everyone else in the world it's the same price as any other top of the range bat. That's why I didn't hesitate in getting one.

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk

Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: Rew162 on November 28, 2013, 05:24:31 PM
Look what I just received in the post! Must be one of the first to get one - as it only got officially launched today!

I went to Taunton on Monday for a referb on my Amplus and they had one in the shop. The pick up and response was fantastic so ordered one there and then and it arrived with my referbed Amplus today! Great service again from M&H and I guess that is why I keep going back (since 1989)

Both bats are 2.9lb the CK22 is huge for the weight with 42mm edges the Amplus has 35mm edge. The CK22 has a much flatter face than their other bats so will also be interested to play with a flatter faced bat.

I have not had a chance to try the rebound on the CK22 yet but all the signs are positive, the one I saw in Taunton on Monday had a fantastic response with the mallet and was not even knocked in at that point. I will report back when I get chance to have a knock.

(http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y417/rew162/29275179-72B4-4393-9E29-0AFC87D55232_zpsfvicjfoy.jpg) (http://s1273.photobucket.com/user/rew162/media/29275179-72B4-4393-9E29-0AFC87D55232_zpsfvicjfoy.jpg.html)

(http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y417/rew162/39EDEFB4-2A05-484E-AAE3-F08BFBE68FBB_zpsb6qlief9.jpg) (http://s1273.photobucket.com/user/rew162/media/39EDEFB4-2A05-484E-AAE3-F08BFBE68FBB_zpsb6qlief9.jpg.html)

(http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y417/rew162/4CC009F2-1B5E-4620-BB80-96FB328C46A5_zpsdb0towwf.jpg) (http://s1273.photobucket.com/user/rew162/media/4CC009F2-1B5E-4620-BB80-96FB328C46A5_zpsdb0towwf.jpg.html)

(http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y417/rew162/63AEC057-B832-4479-ADF8-B46DB2F40AD1_zpsug9mmhut.jpg) (http://s1273.photobucket.com/user/rew162/media/63AEC057-B832-4479-ADF8-B46DB2F40AD1_zpsug9mmhut.jpg.html)

(http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y417/rew162/DE70BD7B-E52D-459B-97F6-FE700B0E3198_zpswbsc1jzr.jpg) (http://s1273.photobucket.com/user/rew162/media/DE70BD7B-E52D-459B-97F6-FE700B0E3198_zpswbsc1jzr.jpg.html)

(http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y417/rew162/FF918268-45AE-4A55-890B-4369CD2BF232_zpstiiqxm6k.jpg) (http://s1273.photobucket.com/user/rew162/media/FF918268-45AE-4A55-890B-4369CD2BF232_zpstiiqxm6k.jpg.html)

(http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y417/rew162/8AA5DC29-65BD-464B-8487-EA2A4AE1FDCB_zpstqi3evvg.jpg) (http://s1273.photobucket.com/user/rew162/media/8AA5DC29-65BD-464B-8487-EA2A4AE1FDCB_zpstqi3evvg.jpg.html)
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: Vitas Cricket on November 28, 2013, 05:41:40 PM
Looks good mate. I was hoping for some reviews of these as i only had a brief moment with the samples at the trade show. I really like the stickers and the design of the range as a whole, especially the keeping gloves.

Ultimately if you love it then that is all that matters, but it is a very expensive piece of kit. It does beg the question, can any bat be worth that much?

Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: wayward_hayward on November 28, 2013, 06:09:44 PM
The colour scheme is growing on me and the bat looks huge for the weight. I can't justify £200 for a bat, let alone the price of a CK22, shame.
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: iand123 on November 28, 2013, 07:09:19 PM
How much are these bats?
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: SOULMAN1012 on November 28, 2013, 07:23:26 PM
Very nice bat mate, I got there email today and couldn't bring myself to delete it, just in case, you never know when another impulse purchase will occur.

Is it actually 2.9 in current state? I have always found if you wAnt a 2.9 from M&H then you need to order a 2.7 as they weigh there bats naked.

Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: mattw on November 28, 2013, 07:30:35 PM
looks like M&H need to work on their finishing for bats worth that amount.
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: T-Rapta on November 28, 2013, 07:35:57 PM
How much are these bats?

£425
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: WalkingWicket37 on November 28, 2013, 07:36:24 PM
How do they justify the price of these bats??  :o
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: johnrockin on November 28, 2013, 07:41:27 PM
Love the profile of the CK22. Does it have a square toe, or is it the picture?

Very tempted to get one myself
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: Alvaro on November 28, 2013, 07:42:19 PM
How do they justify the price of these bats??  :o

Some can afford them and they have a rep that supports it, rightly or wrongly.

I agree with Mattw, they could have polished it. Chunky though and I would expect the performance is there.
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: mattw on November 28, 2013, 07:47:32 PM
It looks as though the MK22 bat is polished or oiled at least(not sure what's going on with the amplus), however poor finishing to leave so many sandpaper marks on the bat - not that it'll effect the bat in anyway, just from an aesthetic point of view it doesn't justify the price tag.
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: ItsJustCricket on November 28, 2013, 07:49:23 PM
We are selling them for £399.99.  I am going down to Taunton on Monday to pick out these bats and more, and we have four CK22s on order - two of which have been pre-ordered...

If anyone fancies a look at either of the other two, please give me a shout after Monday!  :)
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: ItsJustCricket on November 28, 2013, 07:51:15 PM
Remember, all these M&H ones are knocked in (by hand) before going out for sale, so their finishing will never be on a par with Salix, Affinity et al.
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: Blazer on November 28, 2013, 08:14:08 PM
looks like M&H need to work on their finishing for bats worth that amount.
Very true! , Just didn't want to offend anybody before you stated that. They need to have a short session with Mr Aldred for lessons on how to finish a bat.
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: ItsJustCricket on November 28, 2013, 08:16:18 PM
The finishing is part of the charm - how can a bat be perfectly finished if it's been oiled and knocked in by hand beforehand? For me, this proves that M&H bats really are ready to play, and as far as I'm aware, they are the only manufacturer to offer this service, and do it by hand.
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: mattw on November 28, 2013, 08:25:26 PM
The finishing is part of the charm - how can a bat be perfectly finished if it's been oiled and knocked in by hand beforehand? For me, this proves that M&H bats really are ready to play, and as far as I'm aware, they are the only manufacturer to offer this service, and do it by hand.

knocking in and oiling 'by hand' is completely different to skipping on grades of sandpaper which is the issue with the finishing, you can see the teeth marks left by low grade sandpaper - nothing to do with a slight dent or anything like that.
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: Number 11 on November 28, 2013, 09:50:46 PM
Well, the Original is £200 and needs knocking in so you're paying £100 more for a ready to play Solution and £200 for Amplus and Master. That makes knocking in quite expensive, wonder what their hourly rate is  ???
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: jamesisapayne on November 28, 2013, 11:02:51 PM
Well, the Original is £200 and needs knocking in so you're paying £100 more for a ready to play Solution and £200 for Amplus and Master. That makes knocking in quite expensive, wonder what their hourly rate is  ???

Seeing as they claim to be able to knock a bat in fully in 30-45 mins I'd say quite a good rate!

I like M&H bats a lot and playing in the Somerset league see my fair share. I've never seen a bad one, but I can't for the life of me understand why a bat can cost 425. When I think it's nearly half a thousand pounds it makes it seem even more mind boggling.
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: smokem on November 29, 2013, 02:34:11 AM
This finishing issue needs to be put in perspective... The Amplus was a refurb and I agree the finishing is very average. One would expect better work from M&H on a refurb.

But this is not the finishing on a newly purchased bat - ie the CK22 (which looks fine to me). Hard to tell from the pics but Rew162 can be the judge of that. He can also comment on the finishing of the Amplus when he first bought it.
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: smokem on November 29, 2013, 02:40:33 AM
Well, the Original is £200 and needs knocking in so you're paying £100 more for a ready to play Solution and £200 for Amplus and Master. That makes knocking in quite expensive, wonder what their hourly rate is  ???
Original is Grade 2 (£200) and the Solution is Grade 1 (£300) . The Solution Mark 2 is Grade 2 and £250. So it's more like £50... Amplus and Master are meant to be oversized clefts (and maybe G1+ ?) but I might be wrong.
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: ItsJustCricket on November 29, 2013, 09:32:07 AM
Yep, the Original, Solution and Harlequin bats all cost less because they are each made from standard clefts, which apparently costs M&H less to source than the (oversized) clefts that they use to make the Master, CK22, Amplus and, formerly, Distinction...
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: GarrettJ on November 29, 2013, 09:46:49 AM
I thought Oversized referred to the spine height of the raw cleft.

A normal raw cleft is 75mm high where as an oversized is 85mm so im not sure how any bat other than a Distinction or a H4L Tempo can be described as being made from an oversized cleft. Usually 10mm is lost in finishing and pressing so anything higher than 65mm spine on a bat is very impressive.

There are now differences in the edge sizes of the way clefts are cut to be able to get these 50mm edges but they never have a finished spine height over 65mm.
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: smokem on November 29, 2013, 09:54:38 AM
Sorry I meant low density clefts... I take it these are harder to come by and attract a premium?
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: ItsJustCricket on November 29, 2013, 09:56:04 AM
I guess it depends on which willow merchant you go to.  Clearly the M&H one are charging them more for the clefts that make those bats.  I don't see why they would lie about that, just to increase a profit margin?!
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: GarrettJ on November 29, 2013, 10:10:23 AM
they are a lot rarer so the laws of supply and demand mean they price is increased (new my economics degree would help me at some point!)
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: jamesisapayne on November 29, 2013, 10:20:53 AM
Original is Grade 2 (£200) and the Solution is Grade 1 (£300) . The Solution Mark 2 is Grade 2 and £250. So it's more like £50... Amplus and Master are meant to be oversized clefts (and maybe G1+ ?) but I might be wrong.

The Original is supposed to be grade 1 with a grade 2 option available for £50 less.

Also, some of the Amplus and Distinction bats I've seen are definitely not G1+ Some of them have been G2-3 visually, but I guess the pool of top grade willow in oversize cleft size is severely limited.
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: Chad on November 29, 2013, 10:30:23 AM
With regards to oversized clefts, wasn't the Pod meant to be made from an oversized cleft? In fact, I'm almost 100% sure that it was advertised like that when I first looked up Salix. (A few years back) When I got my hands on one, I was pretty surprised, as it was smaller than a few of the bats I had at the time, and is probably one of the smaller bats I have now! (Besides the Tour maybe) I do think that the definition of 'oversized' has changed over the years with change in demands, so it was probably oversized back then, but standard now!

D7bow had a Laver that had a ridiculous spine and edge size, and my L&W PB has a spine height of 65-68mm. I think it all depends on the batmaker's way of doing things. If you're getting a machine to do everything, you can probably get the highest spine possible from a cleft very consistently, although if you do it by hand, there has to be that leeway for a mistake. I think the Amplus will probably be around 63-65mm spines. (Based on a look at my friend's ones)

Back on topic, that CK22 is a lovely looking bat, I really didn't like it when I first saw it, (Thought it looked really concaved) but it doesn't seem to be too concaved, and it is massive! The stickers have grown on me as well. Maybe it's made from the lighter OS clefts, hence the hefty price tag. The most important thing is that you love the bat, and from what you've mentioned, I think you'll get on with it fine. ;) I do agree that the finishing should be better - I know a few forum members who finish bats much better than that! (Better than a lot of other brands too) Surely with the sale of a few bats, they can invest in some better equipment for that - a good finish compliments the bat as a whole! (Especially for a premium brand)
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: Rew162 on November 29, 2013, 02:26:44 PM
This finishing issue needs to be put in perspective... The Amplus was a refurb and I agree the finishing is very average. One would expect better work from M&H on a refurb.

But this is not the finishing on a newly purchased bat - ie the CK22 (which looks fine to me). Hard to tell from the pics but Rew162 can be the judge of that. He can also comment on the finishing of the Amplus when he first bought it.

I was really shocked about all the comments regarding the finish of the bat, I just could not believe people were on about my bat! So I had a look at the pictures again, and I can see what people are saying but to put it in some perspective these photos were taken in low light using a camera phone and I think the resolution and perhaps some camera shake had not helped the photos they were also taken very close to the bat especially the toe on shots. I can honestly say in the flesh that the CK22 is finished to the same standard as all other M&H bats that I have seen, a standard which I am more than happy with. There could be better finished bats available e.g. Aldred, Affinity etc... but having never held one it is difficult for me to confirm.  I hope this allays any concerns over the quality of the finish on this bat.

As for referb of the Amplus I agree that it is not the smoothest finish but it was in a state (had a lot of use last year :D) but I didn't think to take a before picture sadly. I only included this as a comparison between the 2 bats out of interest for people as I had it to hand.  I am not going to send the bat back to M&H it is hardly going to affect its performance, perhaps if I lived closer then I possibly would drop it in for a bit of a better finish, it is not the same standard as the CK22 bat or when I fist got it back in 2012 but I am OK with what they have otherwise done to the bat.

On to the price, I can understand that there are many comments about this and is it worth the money (and not in everyone's price range). I would say to put it in some perspective that it is not the only bat in this price bracket (£370+) in fact most of the larger companies have bats that are in this range or more. It is also only £25 more than last year's top of the range M&H bat (The Master) so hardly a big difference in the cost. Also having only bought 3 bats in the last 4 years at a cost of £925 I am not unhappy with how much I have spent for the quality of these bats. I am sure others on here have spent more than this over the same period on bats - sure they may have got many more bats but I am happy with the amount I have spent and the bats I have received over this time.

I know someone also asked about the toe and yes to confirm that the CK22 has a much squarer toe that the Amplus.

Finally on the performance of the bat (the most important part for me) I had a hit with it last night with an old ball, the response was superb and right up with the best couple of bats I have ever used so I am very pleased and it still needs more work to be match ready so hopefully it will improve even more! The only downside is that I just can't wait for the start of the season now so I can start using the CK22 in anger!
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: ItsJustCricket on November 29, 2013, 04:03:00 PM
Another thing we should mention is that the CK22 will be very limited.  I don't know exactly how limited, but it's a major reason why I decided to visit them next week - I got the distinct impression that had I waited until March/April, they would all be gone.

Chad, I think you are right: I believe the CK22 are made from only the lightest oversized clefts available, hence the low weights and limited numbers.  As discussed on other threads, a limited number will increase the price of any bat, and justifiably so in my opinion.
Title: Re: M & H CK22
Post by: Vitas Cricket on November 29, 2013, 04:04:24 PM
Agree on the low weight clefts, that lump at the trade show picked like a feather.