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[GarrettJ]

I think your right Alvaro in saying some if not most handles are thin  .... It's the only part you actually touch on a bat so it needs to be right or it would be like trying to drive a car sitting on plastic beer garden chair

Are bat makers using thin handles to reduce weight and make a bigger bat at the expense of better balance?

[procricket]

I bet not many people on here can state the dimensions of their preferred handle. If you ask the top batsmen in the world they will all be able to tell you.

For me 12cm circumference top hand and 13cm bottom and I plonk on a thin grip and a gm shock absorba to get a nice thick spongy feel to the bottom hand. I have been told the top hand on my bat is not round but very slightly oval !?!?

As you know i have seen a few and your right to a mm they know some of them that i have seen mate.

[procricket]

I think your right Alvaro in saying some if not most handles are thin  .... It's the only part you actually touch on a bat so it needs to be right or it would be like trying to drive a car sitting on plastic beer garden chair

Are bat makers using thin handles to reduce weight and make a bigger bat at the expense of better balance?

That is a double edged sword though John if you take weight from the top of the blade including the handle and away from the hands your making the pick up worst but as clefts tend to be getting heavier not lighter i suspect some are trying to get the weights down of there bats .

Yes just re read your post agree mate.

[Alvaro]

I think your right Alvaro in saying some if not most handles are thin  .... It's the only part you actually touch on a bat so it needs to be right or it would be like trying to drive a car sitting on plastic beer garden chair

Are bat makers using thin handles to reduce weight and make a bigger bat at the expense of better balance?

I think that accusation could be levelled at Gunn and Moore last year. the Argons and Octanes were massive bits of wood but the handles were very thin. The ones i've picked up this have been better. So, yes, possibly. My Laver has a thin handle that Ben at Salix was not impressed with - he said much the same as you Garrett. The width of bats is another prevalent trick to keep weight down, apparently.

[GarrettJ]

Thin handle bats always feel heavy to me even if they are 2.8.

[procricket]

I think that accusation could be levelled at Gunn and Moore last year. the Argons and Octanes were massive bits of wood but the handles were very thin. The ones i've picked up this have been better. So, yes, possibly. My Laver has a thin handle that Ben at Salix was not impressed with - he said much the same as you Garrett. The width of bats is another prevalent trick to keep weight down, apparently.

Yes it is Steve also removing Toe guards and putting thin chevron grips and there are other ways yet you cant blame people to try and get bats out there at weights people want.

[Alvaro]

Not an accusation, just an observation.

The best trick is making people think a shorter, thinner blade and longer handle will help you moose it out the park...

[procricket]

So all the people out there onely a few can say what makes there bat great??

[Giraffe208]

Choice of grains 6+. What makes a great bat for me is something I am happy to use for every net / game and every time I walk in the garage I have to pick it up and play some shadow shots or tap up a ball

[smilley792]

What makes a bat great, you said not to say it but it's the user?


Put a 606 in micheal clarkes hands he'll score runs.
Put the lightest, biggest cleft going that's greatly pressed in a non cricketer, and he'll be lucky to get ten.



But in seriousness and onto actual bats. Big edges, small edges, concaving, non concaving, scoops, high middle design, oversized clefts, low density clefts big toes. Blah blah blah, all they do is give a placebo effect.

As long as the bat is knocked in, in your weight range, and picks up well in your opinion, that's all that matters.

[Ryan]

Personally I'd pick on performance not looks, I don't really care if it's an ugly duckling as long as it's been pressed well I'm happy. I've learned for making quite a few bats that looks isn't everything.  It's more of a guide when buyijg blind online but doesn't guarantee a good bat.

[sarg]

I've had a variety of bats over the years including Ishan, Multiple GNs (Fusion, Megadrive andUltimate) two Bradmans ( one wad a ridgeback that lasted two seasons and snapped), fisher, Newbery and now mongoose.

I currently have a two year old Fisher Custom with 7-8 grains, a 15 year old GN Ultimate 1000 Players with 8 grains and a Players Bin Newbery Uzi SPS with 12-13 Grains that a 'mate who knows the bat maker' picked up for me about 8 years ago.

I always thought grains were important until I joined this forum and read as much as I could. I used to look for between 8-9 when I hand selected my own bats. In the case of my last 4 bats including the Newbery, that choice was outside of my control so there was variation.

The Newbery way great, but seemed to dry out faster than any bat I have owned. I'm trying to resurrect it after a shonky rehandle at the moment, but the ping has gone. I'm thinking that more grains equals less moisture and it dries out faster here in Adelaide, Australia where we have a very dry climate. Bob Fielke  restrung it over Christmas and said it was very dry and it should give it 4 oils.

My ugly fisher is way better than the Newbery ever was and I know it was not over-pressed because I failed to knock in the toe an had a minor crack when I used it against a bowling machine. Glued and clamped it I fixed it and had a great season.

The GN Ultimate was a fantastic bat and I got 4-5 seasons out of it before I moved on. 8 grains.

Currently I am knocking in. Mongoose TORQ Series with wavy wide 6 grains.  I brought of eBay and it felt dry and hard when it arrived. I was worried. So I have given it two oils left it for a week or so, then light sand and facing.

The most important thing I tried after watching Paul's 'it's just cricket video' on YouTube was that my mallet was was in the light category. So I brought a heavy one as he recommended and gaffer taped a little lead flashing on to it to make it a bit heavier again. 3-4 hours of knocking in on the goose and it's starting to feel amazing and ping like a gun.


So in summary.

1. Batmaker's skill at pressing is more important than grains, but if you don't knock it in properly you won't get the best rebound.

2. Weight of the bat and pickup. For me it was around 2.8-2.10.

3.  6-12 grains is ok.

4. Look


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[Seniorplayer]

My preference is  12 plus wide prominent  ruler straight evenly spaced grains.

[Nmcgee]

Clearly there is no single correct answer on this one. I think the bat makers themselves, or those that have dabbled in the art, are the most qualified to answer.

Ideally, like a bat with 6-9 grains but that is only really because all my past bats had 6-9 grains. I like round handles but that was only because I had owned Asian made bats and then took a while to adjust to using an oval handle. One thing is for certain, I like a bat that picks up at about 2.8.

As for why a few of my bats are great, I really don't know why my Salix players and Lavers ping so well, but I am reliably told it has something to do with the way they are pressed. All I can do is take a bat, bounce a good quality ball off it and judge from there. Or, buy from a bat maker on reputation. I must say, I'm not all that fussed on the aesthetics of a bat but the more I spend, the nicer looking I expect it to be.

This is the reason I buy so many bats...looking for what works for me and developing my knowledge and appreciation of the willow.

[tim2000s]

Here's why I think grains don't matter,  and neither does shape really.

I bought a part made cleft that had been pressed by an expert.  I shaped it into a bat that I could use.

The bat has 4 grains.  It is the first time I had tried to shape a bat.

The ball flies off it.  Most people don't like the handle shape,  but they love using it due to its rebound qualities. 

Either I'm the luckiest man on the planet when it comes to batmaking and have enormous latent skill or the guy who pressed it did a Stirling job. 

Much as I'd like it to be the first,  I'm certain it's the latter...

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