Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Equipment => Bats => Reviews => Topic started by: petehosk on January 20, 2010, 02:37:20 PM
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Firstly, I need to say that I’ve decided to do a lot of the reviews in 2 parts! I seem to have so many bats now, that it’ll take me an age to knock in and use a lot of them.
So I may start by posting pictures of each bat with the spec of the bat!
Then after knocking in, I will give a more detailed review after taking it down the nets! That way, I’ll have less excuse not to post details of all the bats, which currently runs at between 50 and 60 in number.
But I will start with a fully review of a bat that I no longer have – reason for that you can read below!
June 2009
Friday, Saturday and Sunday had seen a successful tour – played 3 games and won 3.
And the amount of drinking in between was total abuse of our liver, as well as other organs I don’t doubt!
The tour was over and I set off at 10am for a works event on Monday morning from our hotel in Colchester! But I’d arranged a little treat for myself, which was my reason for leaving before most of the others!
If anyone knows their bats and their geography, they’ll realise that in Essex is a bat maker by the name of Warsop. They make bats for the likes of James Foster, Graham Napier as well as Ravi Bopara (before Ravi went elsewhere for a financial incentive!)
So I set the satnav with the postcode and off I trundled! It directed me to small place outside of Chelmsford where I turned in by the sign outside a farm-like turning!
I parked outside the workshop and looked at the first ever pod shavers place of work I’d ever seen. The door was open and there was a black Labrador slumped lazily in the doorway! So I strolled towards the dog, not knowing what greeting I’d get. The dog barely looked up even, and casually gave me a sniff as I stepped over him. Maybe the dog was trained to sniff out prospective customers?
I introduced myself to Claire, who I’d spoken to on the phone earlier. Claire handles the phones and admin work and has obviously gained a lot of knowledge over time. Due to having to get to the work event, I only had time for a quick glimpse of the workshop.
Then it was straight into the shop where all the bats and soft goods were! The phrase, ‘like a kid in a sweet shop’ springs to mind – imagine me in with all those quality bats!
So I started picking up bats and putting the nicer ones to one side. I was looking at weight, grains, pick-up, balance and gut-feel. After 20 minutes or so, I had 9 or 10 Platinums resting against the wall, but was no closer to deciding which bat I would purchase!
Then I spied a few bats just outside the door of the shop - Venom Pros. Clair confirmed that they were for sale, and I chose a great bat from the collection – job done!
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Delivery: (N/A)
Obviously I got the take away option, so delivery wasn’t an issue!
Looks: (7/10)
The Warsop labels come in a variety of colours and styles. Most of the stickers are chrome type of shiney! In fact, the silver chrome stickers have more shine than a can of pledge! At a certain time of day, if you angle the bat in a certain way, then you may just be able to get the sun to reflect into the bowlers eyes as he’s on his run-up!
The stickers also come in black, green, and a number of other colours including the ever increasingly popular pink! The stickers are not the prettiest or classiest in my opinion but they seem to have made good job and have added colours as popularity grows for colour trends – so they are obviously listening to the market and adapting, which is normally a good sign!
The willow itself has around 10 nice straight grains which are quite evenly spaced. The bat looks really good with a lovely quality finish. The willow is light and blends nicely with the labels and looks perfect with a white grip (or two!)
Pick-up and Feel (8/10)
The bat is 2lb 10oz, and it feels a little lighter maybe! The balance is as you’d expect if you knew these bats – quality balance and feel.
Responsiveness PING! (9/10)
You just can’t mention bats these days without mentioning this PING word. It’s that trampoline type quality where then ball flies off the blade of the bat.
I spent around 4 hours knocking this bat in, usually whilst walking the dog up the top field. I would recommend this approach when knocking a bat in, as it would ensure that your wife doesn’t end up threatening to kill you unless you stop hitting that @#&$ing bat with the hammer!
And I did tell her that it wasn’t a hammer – it was actually called a mallet, and it is an essential part of bat preparation!
But by the look on her face, I then decided that I’d given enough detail, and was in danger of having the mallet put somewhere that would require major surgery to get it back!
Anyway, the mallet on the bat was responsive to start with. And after 4 or more hours of knocking in, the bat seemed to have even more ping and zing! So very good scoring on the ping-o-meter reading!
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And later....at the batcave!
It was a warm Sunday when I decided to take the Warsop with me to a match, and introduce him to the lads! It was a home game and our two openers had just gone in to bat. So myself and our best batsman took the sparkling Warsop bat and a couple of used cricket balls round the corner for some throw-downs.
I started throwing balls to him (Joel) and he defended some. The ball came off the bat well and I did think it was responding well. Joel was also impressed and told me that he was possibly looking for a bat for next season. He had a huge request – to borrow my bat when he went into bat! Two wickets later, he strolled out to the middle and took guard. A half century later and he seemed somewhat happy. The funniest thing is by the time Joel had played 4 or 5 shots, his mind was made up – he wanted the Warsop. And the next time the Warsop was used (the following week), I was umpiring, so was watching how it played first hand! He mishit a ball which was meant to be a straight six, but no worries there as it still went for a 6!! And an over later, the bowler pitched a ball up just outside his off stump, and Joel middled it through the covers. It was really great to see how well the bat was responding – nothing looks better than the ball being driven through the covers along the ground, and reaching the boundary in a couple of seconds. The batsmen and the fielders didn’t bother to waste their energy by actually moving! The only movements in the field were the bowler scratching his head, the 2nd slip picking his nose, and the fielder closest to the boundary strolling along to fetch the ball back!
So the £200 price (I believe they are now £225 new?) was paid and Joel had his new bat for 2009/2010!!
But all was not lost...............
I know that you are all feeling sorry for me for losing such a great bat. And Mr. Warsop back at his hut in the depths of Essex would be thinking that maybe he’s lost a customer!
However, it all worked out well in the end! I had lots of 2lb 10oz bats already, so I got on the phone to see if Mr Warsop could wave his wand and make a Venom Pro which was under the minimum weight they usually make the Venom Pros! Claire confirmed that they could do a Venom Pro at 2lb 8oz or so, but I may have to wait for the right cleft to come along. This took a couple of weeks and eventually I had my slightly lighter Venom Pro.
And it all ended happily ever after for Mr Warsop too, as one of our openers decided that he had also fallen under the Warsop spell! So from my little trip to the shed in Essex with the black sleepy dog in the doorway, came three bats – all magnificent!!
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Summing Up
I haven’t knocked my Venom Pro in yet, so have only used the Warsop I sold on! However, I also knocked in the 2nd Warsop (now belonging to the opening batsman) and was impressed with the responsiveness of that bat as well! Any reviews I’ve seen have commented on the power and the quality of the Venom Pros – designed with help from Ravi Bopara evidently, so with Ravi in mind (Ravi against the West Indies I would hope, rather than against the Aussies!) it does play with power. And the quality of finish is as good as any bat I have. It’s very much hand-made, as there are tiny differences between each bat that you notice when you put all three side by side! But the important thing is that there are no differences in the profiles and both bats tried so far have been superb!
If I went into bat and I had the Redback and the Warsop in my kitbag, then it would be an easy decision to make! I would choose the Warsop if I needed to last most of the innings, and the Redback if a lot of the innings was already gone! But that is partly due to the Redback being around 5oz heavier that the Warsop! But either bat would be excellent in any given situation as they both offer quality with the added power whenever you need it!
If I were in the position of having to use the Warsop to bat with, then it wouldn’t be a hardship! There are worse bats out there, but not many better in my opinion – although this may change as I have some amazing bats to review this year!!
I think it’s clear that the Warsop will be staying in the same ‘not for sale’ kitbag as the Redback is stored for the moment!
It’s a quality bat with umph! And if I were an ad-man working on an image for the Warsop Venom Pro, I would probably use the following phrase to sum up the bat.....
The Venom Pro! Be nice to it..... or it’ll bite back!
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(http://i551.photobucket.com/albums/ii471/petehosk/Warsop/SDC10756.jpg)
(http://i551.photobucket.com/albums/ii471/petehosk/Warsop/SDC10759.jpg)
(http://i551.photobucket.com/albums/ii471/petehosk/Warsop/SDC10762.jpg)
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(http://i551.photobucket.com/albums/ii471/petehosk/Warsop/SDC10764.jpg)
(http://i551.photobucket.com/albums/ii471/petehosk/Warsop/SDC10765.jpg)
(http://i551.photobucket.com/albums/ii471/petehosk/Warsop/SDC10766.jpg)
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great review.. and lovely bat.. love the stickers and finish looks class..
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(http://i551.photobucket.com/albums/ii471/petehosk/Warsop/SDC10755.jpg)
(http://i551.photobucket.com/albums/ii471/petehosk/Warsop/SDC10773.jpg)
(http://i551.photobucket.com/albums/ii471/petehosk/Warsop/SDC10772.jpg)
(http://i551.photobucket.com/albums/ii471/petehosk/Warsop/SDC10770.jpg)
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Awesome review there Pete - been working on that all week have we?????
Warsop is one of the very few bats that i have yet to try out - they all look like good sticks from the one's shown off on the forum - plus they sound like nice folk up at Warsop.
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They're a good bunch and easy to chat to!
And it only takes 2 or 3 hours to write the review. But its doing the pics and stuff as well!!
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Fantastic review Pete and what a gun! Looks rather large doe a 2lb 8oz so hats off. Am I the only one wondering where that lovely white rug has gone...
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Looks fabulous, and a fantastic and all-encompassing review! Work a bit slow today? ;-)
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The bat pictured is the original 2lb 10oz gun that Joel now has. Pics of the 2lb 8oz Warsop will follow when I get round to it. ;D
And the pics were taken in Summer, and the rug is generally stored away for Summer, as it's a Winter rug for the dogs to curl up on when the fire is lit. But obviously now, it will be used for photos of bats too!
Thanks for noticing - I did wonder if anyone would mention the rugless pics!
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Top review Pete and the bat looks quality.I have a Warsop Platinum and can honestly say that it was excellent the first season and started to play even better during the second season!
As the profiles of the Platinum and Venom Pro are almost identical and both are top quality G1 im surprised in the price difference? The staff are incredibly helpful and certainly know their stuff. Enjoy the bat!
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very nice bat mate!
the captain of a friendly team i play for knows someone from warsop and managed to get 3 for the club at the start of last season! i used one of them for every game i played, truly awesome bats. one of the main reasons i got my canterbury as im pretty sure there made by warsop...
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The grains are some of the best I have ever seen
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Fantastic review pete! Looks a cracking stick! They've put their prices up this year by 20 quid or so, however that shouldn't stop the average cricketer from buying one! Especially if they're that good!
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maybe one about a(n) asian/big brand/lower grade/price bat that would offer an interesting comparison to the 'handmade' option?
lovely bat - and i like the knocking-in tip :)
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Cheers guys. Its fun to be in a position where I have loads to review!
And good idea about maybe doing Asian or big brand review - have an AS V3, an awesome SS Gold Edition, or a CA I could review!
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dear lord, that's a horrendously good looking bit of willow.
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Pete guess your lucky as I've owned 4 warsops and they were average at best, id certainly never ever buy another under any circumstances.
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Thanks Tumo
As soon as I saw that Venom Pro sitting there, then it wasn't a tough choice!
4 warsops only average? I guess I must of been lucky.
The ones I have tested have all been the Venom Pros, which seemed a little nicer than the other models. Although there seemed quite a number of decent bats in the shop chap!
What warsops did you have?
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I had a Venom Pro and the rest were Platinum's, and average is my conservative opinion.
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Ok - haven't used the Platimum, but the ones I went through were mainly Plats and they felt ok - but cant really comment on how they were to use!
Maybe you got an average Venom Pro? Although at over £200 a piece, there shouldn't really be any average ones - they should all be very decent!
2 out of 3 of the Venoms I've used have been excellent. Will be using the 3rd one this Summer so will let you know how that one is later.
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(http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii58/watsontotty/028.jpg)
(http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii58/watsontotty/021-1.jpg)
(http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii58/watsontotty/DSC00745.jpg)
(http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii58/watsontotty/DSC00744.jpg)
Pics of a couple of the platinum's i had, they looked OK as in willow quality and finish but pick up and performance below average if I'm truthful. Actually the last two pics im not sure that was one of my bats as the pics were not taking by me although possibly i bought it from a seller. Will have pics of the Venom around.
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Had a platinum and also didnt like it if i'm honest. Just didnt feel right and pick up wasnt good. Took bloody ages to knock in too!!
Think the top one is the one i sold you Rich?
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Yes i think it was bud, it was possibly the better one although not up to my expectations or standards so sold it on very very quickly.
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So I should be even happier with mine then!
But is it ann exception, as its onyl one Venomm Pro that you were not happy with? And the Plats are slightly different anyway.
Or is it cos different bats suit different people?
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(http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii58/watsontotty/111.jpg)
(http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii58/watsontotty/113.jpg)
(http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii58/watsontotty/115-1.jpg)
Pics of the Venom, its not the case that different bats suit different people as i rate my bats on pick up balance and most import Performance. In my opinion based on 4 bats I've found them to be the most over rated company I've used and I've used almost everyone apart from the odd newer company.
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Have you still got this bat Watsontotty?
Al
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Nope bud i got shot of it via eBay ? i spent 12 hours or more knocking it in and then a few nets and decided not to waste any more time on it.
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ok fair enough mate,
Any news on the Puma mate?
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I was supposed to ring today and pay but i never had time so will do it tomorrow if i remember as I've meetings most of the day.
Pete sorry about my posts didn't mean to be negative on your topic !
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i have happily used my platinum for two years, and though it did take an age to knock in, it is a very good bat, particularly pick-up wise. i have a low grip and being a lefty can be bottom-hand dominated, perhaps this has something to do with it. i don't play high enough standard or have enough disposable income to spend on bats, so i may have been willing it good too. however, i know in me bones that the bas blaster i had before it had a better middle and my new newbery gt is better finished, pressed and the sweetspot is already waking up and feels longer. i have hit big sixes with the 'sop though.
i found them polite at best when i went too, and tony was pretty grumpy. to sum up, i like my platinum, but i doubt i will buy another. i don't think they are very progressive either - still advertising 'as used by bopara stuff' on a VERY basic web page.
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Rich - no worries about posting negative bits - thats what a forum is about fella!
I am not sure if the Venom will be great until I use it for longer than I used the first Venom I used.
But will confirm how i get on with it. And initial feel is very good though.
It doesnt feel like the Laver, Harlequin or Redback yet,, but am optimistic that the positive signs are there.
As i said....time will tell :)