Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Equipment => Bats => Topic started by: 19reading87 on October 07, 2019, 06:50:05 AM
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Morning all,
With the cost of high class willow rising all the time ( we all love good looking bats, don’t we.... )
I was wondering what is the best bat you’ve owned or used but with the fewest about of grains?
I was speaking to a bloke a work who played 20-25 years ago, loves the game but has no knowledge of current cricket equipment and he said he only used a bat with a maximum 6-8 grains.
Didn’t we see a pro bat appear once (Sean Ervine??) with 6 grains?
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Last years match bat 5/6 grains but was a gun
(https://i.postimg.cc/vB94yv3c/6-B0-E9-C8-F-32-D1-4-B72-8-D5-D-31-EE10-DD1912.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/cgxxMfqS)
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Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it that the more grains the softer it tends to be initially but therefore plays better earlier, the fewer grains then slightly harder so takes a bit longer to play in but tends to last a bit better? So basically both can perform brilliantly but more a question of time. I guess many pro players will want more grains from the off as not as worried about damage? I'm pretty sure it is the bits in between the grains that give the "softness"
Wouldn't personally go less than 6 though as getting pretty hard in between the sections by then. Will try and post a picture later on of one with 7 that really flies but took a while to play in.
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Has anyone got a 1 grain Eng Willow bat? Would love to see a pic of that!
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My match bat is 5 grains and goes like an absolute train.
It did take half a season of use before it got going.
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Current B3 best bat I've ever owned is an absolute gun. 2 stripe, 6 grains...
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I'm preparing an SS Maxximus 999 at the moment and it's 5 grains. Quite planky at the moment but haven't started with the mallet yet, still oiling. Fewest grains I've seen on a SH in the flesh
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Ive got a ton with 5 grains. Amazing bat pings nicely!
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Here are the two bats I had in my bag for the 2019 season, 5 is a good number of grains :)
(https://i.imgur.com/jUEtn8j.jpg)
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Out of interest do you only include "Full" grains when counting? ie you ignore the edge ones?
Might be a stupid question but never really worked it out for myself!
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Have two Gray Nicolls 50+ one with 5 grains other with 7 and both are guns!
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Bought a GM Purist of Amazon two seasons ago for £100. 5 Straight grains, and it went like a cannon. Eventually the shoulder gave in to a fuller delivery :( I still miss it.....
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Had a GM Flare 606 pdc exclusive 2 years ago and had 4 and half grains. Once it opened up it went great. A famous case was abdul Razzaq who scored a ton against South Africa in Abu dhabi with a bat that had 3 grains
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Morning all,
With the cost of high class willow rising all the time ( we all love good looking bats, don’t we.... )
I was wondering what is the best bat you’ve owned or used but with the fewest about of grains?
I was speaking to a bloke a work who played 20-25 years ago, loves the game but has no knowledge of current cricket equipment and he said he only used a bat with a maximum 6-8 grains.
Didn’t we see a pro bat appear once (Sean Ervine??) with 6 grains?
Seriously, many of us all are just too fussy and uselessly obsessed with grains and looks and all that jazz to open up our wallets for highly over priced small pieces of timber.
Last weekend we were defending 48 runs in the last 3 overs of a 20 overs game.
Guy comes in at no 8, and hits 7 sixes in two overs to turn the game on it's head.
After the loss, I looked at his bat.
It was a $30 Kookaburra grade 5 Kashmir willow or something. It was one of those cheapest and lowest class bats which are wrapped in some white sheet.
I guess sometimes what holds the truth is, if you know how to swing the bat supported by a great hand-eye coordination, the grains, looks and willow grade doesn't really matter.
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We got took apart a couple seasons ago ,by some bloke who wandered out with a polyarmoured sports direct special,,,, some of the cleanest hitting I’ve ever seen, he only lasted a few overs but put 40 runs on the board, mostly in fours and sixes
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I always assumed that more grains = softer = more pingtasticness, but it’s simply not true.
More grains = looks more expensive and looks like the bats you see being used on the telly.
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Last years match bat 5/6 grains but was a gun
(https://i.postimg.cc/vB94yv3c/6-B0-E9-C8-F-32-D1-4-B72-8-D5-D-31-EE10-DD1912.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/cgxxMfqS)
I have a GM with similar Grains, when it's hit it stays hit! it's just the actually bat on ball part of my game that's letting me down.
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Best bats i've had are Newbury GT 5 Star got 5 grains and is a great bat, still going strong. Also had a DF Max Power that had 5 grains and went like a train for over a decade. Eventually it disintegrated into dust but it was amazing. I'm all about 5 grains!!!!
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Seriously, many of us all are just too fussy and uselessly obsessed with grains and looks and all that jazz to open up our wallets for highly over priced small pieces of timber.
Last weekend we were defending 48 runs in the last 3 overs of a 20 overs game.
Guy comes in at no 8, and hits 7 sixes in two overs to turn the game on it's head.
After the loss, I looked at his bat.
It was a $30 Kookaburra grade 5 Kashmir willow or something. It was one of those cheapest and lowest class bats which are wrapped in some white sheet.
I guess sometimes what holds the truth is, if you know how to swing the bat supported by a great hand-eye coordination, the grains, looks and willow grade doesn't really matter.
Some super-cheap bats are absolute planks without a middle and you will struggle to clear the infield no matter how sweetly you time it.
Others are perfectly fine. I had an ugly sports direct £30 monster as a reserve bat a few years ago and its pickup was horrible but when my main bat broke I scored plenty of runs with it the rest of that season (until it broke).
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Has anyone got a 1 grain Eng Willow bat? Would love to see a pic of that!
It would be cool, but it's never going to happen as willows don't grow that fast. A 1 grain bat would mean the tree grew 4 1/2 inches around, in 2 years. No willow could achieve such growth in such a short time.
If you look through my Wide grain vs Narrow grain thread from last year, in bat making, I put up a couple of photos of a cleft that would be a 3 grain bat. That's the fastest growth I've ever seen and I doubt a willow could grow faster, and still stay upright.
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I always assumed that more grains = softer = more pingtasticness, but it’s simply not true.
More grains = looks more expensive and looks like the bats you see being used on the telly.
In my experience there's little if any difference in the performance of a bat, be it wide or narrow grain. But, in reality, narrow grain bats should be more expensive simply because the trees have taken so much longer to grow. There's a lot more care, attention and maintenance required for narrow grain trees, due to the time they spend in the ground.
For the farmer though, there's probably more money in wide grain trees, as they can fell and replant over a much shorter cycle.
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How long does it take from planting a tree to being able to make a bat from it on average?
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12+ years
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That's a lot longer than I expected!
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Ben Foakes best were 4 grains apparently, although his comment about 2 tone wood left you with a 'pinch of salt' feeling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gbsn8r-ftI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gbsn8r-ftI)
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I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pro grade bat with less than 7 or 8 grains. I’d be amazed if a bat manufacturer sent out a bat to one of their sponsored players with 4 grains.
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I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pro grade bat with less than 7 or 8 grains. I’d be amazed if a bat manufacturer sent out a bat to one of their sponsored players with 4 grains.
A 4 grain cleft would officially be grade 4, if we use the Wrights grading system which is the de facto standard for the industry. So I think you're right, very few batmakers would use such clefts for their sponsored players and run the risk of being seen as low quality. But players do have their own opinions, so it could be the case that Foakes just prefers wider grain bats, and requests them from his supplier.
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A 4 grain cleft would officially be grade 4, if we use the Wrights grading system which is the de facto standard for the industry. So I think you're right, very few batmakers would use such clefts for their sponsored players and run the risk of being seen as low quality. But players do have their own opinions, so it could be the case that Foakes just prefers wider grain bats, and requests them from his supplier.
Although the one on the video looks more like it has 14 than 4 so probably just not that picky, and as he likes to use them without knocking in now i would imagine the supplier gives him a few extra grains to help him out from the off!
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So here's the 3 grain cleft I was talking about, pretty unusual to see such fast growth. The tree grew very close to a stream and at the bottom of a downslope, so benefitted from a very consistent water supply in 2 directions. It will make a very interesting looking bat, but I do wonder about the structural integrity of the timber. Only one way to find out...
(https://i.postimg.cc/JhVsS7xK/cleft-1.jpg)
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@JK Lewis that looks like it'll be a belter to me! Couldn't explain why very well, but those grains look great - I've had a few similar looking sticks from different sources that have been exceptional.
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@JK Lewis that looks like it'll be a belter to me! Couldn't explain why very well, but those grains look great - I've had a few similar looking sticks from different sources that have been exceptional.
Hi mate, good to hear from you. I agree that it will likely be a belter, but I do wonder how long it will last. There's a lot more air in the wood than in more dense narrow grain clefts, so I fear the surface may be more affected by the action of ball on bat. Probably a moment where I break from my normal convention and cover the face with a scuff sheet.
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But folklore says that narrow grains last less long. Why would the same apply for very wide grains?
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So here's the 3 grain cleft I was talking about, pretty unusual to see such fast growth. The tree grew very close to a stream and at the bottom of a downslope, so benefitted from a very consistent water supply in 2 directions. It will make a very interesting looking bat, but I do wonder about the structural integrity of the timber. Only one way to find out...
(https://i.postimg.cc/JhVsS7xK/cleft-1.jpg)
OK so genuine question as i am really confused now..... Can someone please tell me how to count grains (i feel i need to know). What do you and don't you include? the one here looks like 4 at the bottom but may be less towards the top with the way it bends? I'm just confused as to what the standard is, so sorry for being thick!
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OK so genuine question as i am really confused now..... Can someone please tell me how to count grains (i feel i need to know). What do you and don't you include? the one here looks like 4 at the bottom but may be less towards the top with the way it bends? I'm just confused as to what the standard is, so sorry for being thick!
We tend to count the lines, as grains, rather than the spaces. Just easier I guess, but probably inaccurate in truth. This cleft will end up as a bat with 3 'grains' across the face, 4 years of growth.
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Guess that is the difference between trade and retail. Trade count lines as there is less confusion, retail can then up-sell from that.
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Found an old pic of the GM flare i was talking about. This bat ended up being a belter after about 7 months of use.
(https://i.postimg.cc/cHJpzmGW/IMG-20170924-WA0015.jpg)
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But folklore says that narrow grains last less long. Why would the same apply for very wide grains?
Like I said @Psi , the tree sucked up so much water and grew so fast, the fibres of the timber are much less densely packed than usual. It's my theory that this increases the 'springiness' of the wood, giving us a belter of a bat, but at the cost of longevity as there are fewer fibres to fracture under pressure from the ball. The problem is that I'm not really a good enough player to fully test the theory, but the Wide Grain vs Narrow Grain test bats will be ready in time for winter nets so maybe some real life experiments can be done by better batsmen than me.
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Hi mate, good to hear from you. I agree that it will likely be a belter, but I do wonder how long it will last. There's a lot more air in the wood than in more dense narrow grain clefts, so I fear the surface may be more affected by the action of ball on bat. Probably a moment where I break from my normal convention and cover the face with a scuff sheet.
Is it noticably low density? They do tend to be a bit more fragile in my experience - sometimes to the point where I'd consider not using a scuff, just so it's easier to make repairs!
Think that makes all the difference, I've had some wide grainers that have trooped through loads of use with barely any damage and some that cracked almost weekly, seems to be the bigger bats that crack up.