With my cricket all rained off today and the wife out for a ladies pampering day I have spent some time knocking in a few new bats I have bought recently
Firstly is a GM Argon 606 that I got from Jake @ Vitas. I really liked the profile on a few I had come across and wanted to see what they were like so I went for a low end model. Well I can honestly say I have done pretty well and big thanks to Jake. This weights 2.9 with pick up index of 1. The bat has 7 fairly straight grains but does have a small kind of raised blemish on the blade no idea what this is but certainly doesn't effect performance. I have heard a lot about GM bats taking a while to open up and indeed my epic has taken a while to open up (although once knocked in the epic really goes). This argon seems to ping the old ball very well straight from the get go. Has a lovely ping off the mallet as well. For the money this is a great bat. Removed the 606 label and the ready to play stickers as I think it looks better.
Next is a new Salix Pod. This is a lovely lovely bat 2.9 with 41mm edge. Not really a lot I can say about this its just a truly lovely bat. Flat faced bat with dead straight and even grains. Minimal concaving on this like most others with a mid to high swell position. Tap up of an old and new ball is amazing. Also has the best pick up of any of my bats, I know its not a very heavy bat anyway but when holding his and in the pick up is basically like holding a feather. This is about as good as it gets. Stickered as a performance model as there are a couple of very small knots on the blade but this does not bother me. Lovely oval handle slightly thicker at the bottom.
Finally Is my Thruxton 5 star. I decided that for £100 this was to good an opportunity to miss. This is the first Newbery I have owned and I must say the Thruxton is the only model and profile that I really liked, very minimal concaving and again 2.9 with fairly even and straight grains. I have changed the grip to a spiral as the white chevron that was on the bat was very dirty and tatty. The response from the start is good but behind the GM and way behind the Salix although when fully knocked in I think will be a good bat. Pick up is ok feels a little bottom heavy but nothing major as the bat is again quite light. Again lovely semi oval handle and a very good finish to the bat. Also got a pair of RH Thruxton batting gloves for £25 so a very good deal from Newbery
A few pics
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Topic: 3 new sticks (Read 2248 times)