Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Equipment => Your Kit => Topic started by: Cys1 on October 14, 2010, 12:23:33 PM
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Hi Guys
I just first wanted to say that this is a great forum!!! Its awesome to be able to listen to other cricketers who are passionate about cricket bats and cricket kit.
I've been following the forum for a while now and i've noticed that most members are avid supporters of UK based bat manufacturers and that often the quality of bats from Asia are met with scepticism. I find this very interesting since most of my bats are of asian origin and perform very well. I buy cricket bats based on the correct weight, shape and pick up and most importantly performance from the start. I do not mind if it only lasts me half a season, as long as it pings!
I must admit that i have not had access to any of the Brands featured on this forum like Vantage, Hell4Leather etc. The members of this forum have had loads of experience with bats from the UK as well as Asia and i would appreciate their input on the merits of bats from these origins.
Please excuse me if this topic has been raised in the past but i am fairly new to the forum.
Thanks! :)
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I think a good asian bat and a good uk bat are very hard to seperate, in fact if you are taking the very best bat example from both places then you would pssibly get a better asian made bat! (more indian than pakistani!)
But i think when asian bats are poor they are very poor where as its much less common to find such a poor uk made bat.
So uk becomes a safer option but there are some quite superb asian bats going too.
Just my thoughts on it!
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The finish that is applied to a UK made bat such as a Newbery, Salix, M&H etc is far higher than that of an Asian equivalent. I think when cricketers are spending so much on a bat, they hold little things like that in high regard, hence why some are reluctant to buy Asian made bats.
My preference for UK made bats lies with the quality of finish and after sales service, nothing to do with performance.
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I'd suggest as well that UK forum members like to support "local" businesses. I have bats from many places, but they are nearly all UK manufactured. In addition, the likes of Redback, H4L, SAF, Black Cat and Bulldog are relatively new, and therefore get a lot of coverage on the forum.
I've had Matrixx bats before and they weren't the greatest (got sold on very quickly as I didn't like the balance) and I don't get on with the CA shapes. I think it's horses for courses, but the fact that this forum is sponsored by mostly UK companies probably plays a big role...
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agree massively with richard too about CS and finish! But then you can buy good asian bats form places like uzisports and get good CS
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The best finish I have ever seen on a bat is a Puma made by Sondhi, truly the best and agreed by the best in the UK.
The machining on most UK made bats is better, some of the pressing is better too.
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I have to admit that the after sales service with most Asian manufacturers is fairly poor. Not sure if this is different if you stay in India and can easily contact the factory.
I suspect that more English willow is exported to India and Pakistan for bat making than used in the UK. If this is the case then you would statistically stand a better chance of stumbling on to more better quality Asian bats simply based on the sheer volume of bats made over there.
Who am i kidding! I'm just a sucker for massive edges and a bow! :D
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There you go. Massive edges, a concave spine and a bow aren't always my kind of bat!
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I thought i'd be shot down in flames Mike ;)
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Well it isn't the norm but to be quite honest if all my bats could come out like that finish wise I'd send them to India. It was one of a batch of mid range bats too, better than the UK finished ones.
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To be honest i suspect it personal choice..
The quality of blades both here and the sub continent is variable....
What you have to think is the quantity of clefts bought by each company and correct me if i wrong you can not buy just all grade 1 so say sareen the number of clefts they buy the greater the number of grade 1 they have....
But answer to your question i suppose it all about price nowadays i have seen some very good grade 1 bats on here and some questionable grade one bats on here depends and until the market sort there act out and grade on performance and we stop being vain about grains and stuff even me we shall never know....
But then the old grower not shower comes into it i have and sure you all have bats that start as planks but after around 6 months become guns....
I do not buy into the narrow grain wide grain stuff i grade a bat purely on how it picks up and how it taps up....
That why i suggest you buy from whatever country your from no point in buying off a forum (even my bat) or eBay unless you have had the bat before but then not every model bat is the same i suggest you go to a shop or maker and bight the bullet and try some out ignore the stickers and just choose what best....
From now (after my mg2 arrives hypocrite i know) i only going to buy bats i actually pick up
I agree with Mike if your getting grade 2 or 3 bats mid range stuff i would go India every time....
If i wanted something special it will be from England or New Zealand
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Who makes the best bat is quite simple if all the makers had a cleft of the same size, weight and performance.
I'd have Mr Keeley first, Mr Laver second and Mr Millichamp third.
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does Keeley do customs besides ones made for pro's?
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Not to the general public.
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damn it :(
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The best finish I have ever seen on a bat is a Puma made by Sondhi, truly the best and agreed by the best in the UK.
The machining on most UK made bats is better, some of the pressing is better too.
you wouldnt happen to have pic on that bat for us to get an idea would you?
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My best finished bat is probably the Laver, closely followed by the M&H.
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It is an interesting topic to discuss! One of hte few things I have noticed is that Asian bats toe are quite weak compare to English whereas some experts have said that Asian batmaker are not pressing the bat perfectly or near to that.
In past I had thought Asian bats finishing isn't that great, however, after seeing few like (MB Malik and BAS) I was proven wrong. There finishing is more or less same as English brands.
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There is a difference in many companies pressing, cannot go into it as it keeps one ahead of the other.
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The toes on english made bats do seem to be stronger than those of asian bats. But my old salix (and others have ive seen) was awful at the toe and broke badly at the toe after a season and a bits use, which was disapointing. So it does make you think...
But again the finishing on english made bats is second to none usually. Well my talisman is anyway! As is the customer service as with some companies you have the option of going custom and making it that little bit more special.
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I thinka lot of people underestimate how many bats are made in asia. Personally i couldnt careless who makes my bat, whether it be English, Asian or anywhere else, as long as its what i want then its fine by me.
I think theres a touch of the daily mail syndrome about the opinion of asian made bats. Almost like the car industry in this country, we all like to think we make the best everyhting and when johnny foreigner comes along does it for the same quality and for cheaper we always like to feel hard done by.
Not having a pop at any English batmakers by the way, more just the general opinion towards stuff like this from society in general
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As I've said before, I tend to prefer english shapes, but that's just the way I bat. I'm pretty certain that I've had asian made bats in the past. I don't know and don't care. I do think that supporting local businesses is a good idea as it fundamentally keeps money in the UK economy rather than pushing it overseas.
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I visited the Bellingham and Smith factory in Port Elisabeth recently and spoke at length to Mr Bellingham. They are now the sole distributers and manufacturers of Newbery cricket bats and kit in SA. He mentioned that although they try and copy the shapes available in England that the pressing of the bats for the SA market is completely different. An example of this is the pressing of the toe area in SA made Newbery bats. He mentioned that they do not press the toe area in SA as much as in the UK and that this has made a massive difference in bats showing dents rather than cracking in this area. Of course we play our cricket with Kookaburra balls as opposed to Readers or Dukes which are a bit harder and we do not have as many problems with moisture.
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So Newbery is SA (and other territories) are not made by Newbery UK?
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No, the bats are not made by Newbery UK but the softs are imported from Newbery UK.
Not sure about other countries but this is the case in SA.
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So Newbery is SA (and other territories) are not made by Newbery UK?
Same with Newbery in Auz,
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So the SA and Aus Newbery's are essentially "franchises" of the UK brand but they can make their own bats? Pretty decent business model in my opinion, is there any other companies who operate like this that people are aware of?
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So the SA and Aus Newbery's are essentially "franchises" of the UK brand but they can make their own bats? Pretty decent business model in my opinion, is there any other companies who operate like this that people are aware of?
I would say that would be correct, I know the Newbery Stickers in Aus are different to the uk based stickers, I have not seen the Newbery SA Stickers
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So the SA and Aus Newbery's are essentially "franchises" of the UK brand but they can make their own bats? Pretty decent business model in my opinion, is there any other companies who operate like this that people are aware of?
Not franchises, they license the name.
Kookaburra, GM etc all do it.
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Not franchises, they license the name.
Kookaburra, GM etc all do it.
Ah ok, still seems a pretty decent way to make money out of the brand if you don't intend to try and crack that market yourself
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You just have to look at the GN Aussie bats. Not models you can get in the UK.
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Newbery stickers in SA the same as in UK. Exact same range of bats but only getting in selected softs like the GT and Uzi range. I have not seen any SPS gloves or pads yet.
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Tom
How does that work??
What about quality issues, reputationial risk etc.
Not franchises, they license the name.
Kookaburra, GM etc all do it.
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Actually Newbery sold the licence to Swan Richards in Australia, most big brands will have agencies handling their products.
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I had a Newbery bat in the Thruxton Shape made here in SA. It didn't have the big edges and profile that i'm used to but picked up like a dream and had great performance. Was a little too light for me and sold it to a guy at my club who is using it to good effect. Would have been nice to post some pics of it in order to compare it to those that are UK made.
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I think a lot of people underestimate how many bats are made in Asia. Personally I couldn't careless who makes my bat, whether it be English, Asian or anywhere else, as long as its what i want then its fine by me.
I think theres a touch of the daily mail syndrome about the opinion of Asian made bats. Almost like the car industry in this country, we all like to think we make the best everything and when johnny foreigner comes along does it for the same quality and for cheaper we always like to feel hard done by.
Not having a pop at any English bat-makers by the way, more just the general opinion towards stuff like this from society in general
I totally argree with everything you said in this post. You took the words out of my mouth I would have posted something very very similar.
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I totally argree with everything you said in this post. You took the words out of my mouth I would have posted something very very similar.
I'm not sure that's fair. I previously bought bats that I liked, which happened to UK made. I got one remade cos I ilked it so much. It happened to be in the UK. I stumbled across this forum and discovered a wealth of fairly local manufacturers that offer better value for money than I was getting elsewhere. That they are british is a bonus. I'm firmly of the opinion that buying locally saves massively on transport costs (environmental and money) so i'd rather do that.