Gosh - it's been so long since I last updated this thread! I have been making bats a little more regularly recently, having taken on the reins of Crossbat Cricket. That being said, I still hope to share posts here, especially when requests come along like this!
So we've had a request for a trio of retros, and being in a fortunate enough position to be mad enough to collect a ridiculous amount of cricket bats, I happened to have a good number of these to use as templates/references for the requests.First up, we had a Woodworm request - the customer is a big fan of the Pietersen Torch era, but actually preferred the Megabite profile. (Essentially the Woodworm Flame successor) If I remember correctly, Freddie was the Wand, Flame then Mega Drive. Pietersen had the Torch, Globe then Hard Drive? I think the Satellite was also part of the range, which was the silver chrome one - but I digress. The Torch typically had a lower driving swell, and I had made a replica of one in the past. The Flame had more of a mid profile, and the one I used was full, so I decided to make this one full too. Around 2.9 and G3 was the request, and we've tipped it a touch over at 2.10, but it does feel very nice in the hands - fingers crossed it's suitable! I opted to go for my take on a Hunts style scooped shoulder, and also a medium-thick oval handle. On a side note, it's actually pretty chunky, just the exaggerated rounding of the edges doesn't give that impression.
They then mentioned that they had bought some reproduction Diablo stickers too for some reason, and I just so happened to receive a Diablo for the collection around that time. So the request for 1 retro quickly became 2. The Diablo I had always associated with Damien Martyn, who I was lucky to have caught glimpses of towards the tail end of his career. Such a classy batsman, and with unbelievable timing. We opted for a thick orange spiral, one I had been saving for a flame copy, but it just felt right for the occasion. We managed to finish this one in at 2lb 8.3oz in G3 with a nice thick oval, and it just picks up sensationally. It really gave me a breath of nostalgia of rushing out to the sports shops around 2006-2009 sort of period just after school had finished just to pick up bats. 
Finally, after showing the Diablo, the customer mentioned that they had managed to secure some legit Purist stickers, and was wondering if I'd be up for the task of reproducing the profile. Naturally I agreed and suggested a slightly nicer looking piece, and we picked out this G1 that we figured would do the job. I had initially hoped to have made it a chunkier profile, especially since the one I was copying is just over 2lb 7oz, but unfortunately I had massively overestimated. We still managed to get a nice sized bat in at a shade under 2lb 9oz, and with a lovely oval handle and pick up. It's not too far off, with probably the most obvious difference being that we've extended the driving area a little more towards the toe. I can't imagine how light it would have picked up if I'd not felt inclined to do that, but I think having my own style/twist to a replica is something I should learn to celebrate rather than obsess too much over 
Making these retro style profiles are probably some of the most enjoyable batmaking projects I've undertaken - there's just something refreshing about not trying to fight too much on having the bats as big as possible. Hopefully there will always be a niche market for these kinds of bats!
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