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[JK Lewis]

@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.

[Psi]

But folklore says that narrow grains last less long. Why would the same apply for very wide grains?

[Wazza08]

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...

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!

[JK Lewis]

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.

[SurreySam]

Guess that is the difference between trade and retail. Trade count lines as there is less confusion, retail can then up-sell from that.

[Mfarank]

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.

[JK Lewis]

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.

[edge]

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.