Much of a muchness
Advertise on CBF

Pages: 1 [2]

Author Topic: Much of a muchness  (Read 4811 times)

0 Members and 3 Guests are viewing this topic.

jonpinson

  • World Cup Winner
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2916
  • Trade Count: (+2)
Re: Much of a muchness
« Reply #15 on: October 06, 2011, 07:07:40 PM »

The problem is, after too long on here, plenty of people would write off anything with less than 10 grains, or a knot, or that didn't cost 300+

Exactly. To an impressionable and possibly uneducated person, it would be easy to believe that. Indeed you see posts every day alluding to it.

Those cheap GNs I got seem like they are all going to perform as well as any bat I have owned or used, for around £40 a piece. Why would I want to spend £200+ now?
 
I've said for a while that if someone wants a top end bat and can't decide on which maker, pick the one with your favourite stickers. You will get a great bat which ever brand you go for. Also, noone is making bats that clearly outperform the rest.

Logged

Visigoth

  • Village Cricketer
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 30
  • Trade Count: (0)
Re: Much of a muchness
« Reply #16 on: October 20, 2011, 02:04:24 PM »

      I guess it is important for everyone to rationally examine whether or not it makes sense to buy an expensive bat. I can't answer for others, but I can share my thoughts on the matter which may well be very wrong. I play low level cricket for fun and recreation here in the U.S.. Odd? Yes, but I did a Master's degree at a university in the UK long ago and fell in love with the game, and my wife is from Guyana so we have a ready and eager pool of players here. Clearly, I don't need a high quality bat for "performance improvement". To think that would be to fall victim to the marketing traps so often found in golf, where 30 handicappers buy the latest driver and the same balls Tiger Woods uses. Nor would I buy one for all of the vanity/ stupidity reasons that are very common here in the U.S., like "I deserve the best," or to show off that one can afford the best.
     So, why? I will draw an analogy to fly fishing. I grew up fly fishing as a boy in the High Sierras. I now use exclusively bamboo rods that are made by small scale individual makers from places as disparate as Sweden and Alaska. I enjoy the interaction with the maker, and the beauty of a rod made from natural and not space age materials. I admire the craftsmanship and the effort that has gone into mastering the craft. Fishing with a bamboo rod is just a different experience---yes, I would get more fish if I threw a grenade in, and I would probably catch the same amount of fish with a cheap rod; but experience is more than mere results. There is also pleasure in learning and experimentation---rods, like bats, can be very different and made to suit different people or situations.

     This is why I don't mind getting a hand made, English willow bat that costs more and will make little practical difference in my score. It enhances my cricket experience to have something beautiful made by an individual, rather than something churned out in a sweat shop, or by a machine. In my cricketing world I enjoy the lunch, the tea, watching my sons play, the camaraderie with the other players, the light, the sun, the breeze, the fact that the clock goes largely unheeded; and so why not have a beautiful bat that reminds me of England? I also enjoy thinking about bats, the theories behind the designs, the endless quest for the perfect fit---all this can be as valuable as an extra yard of distance.  Just some of my impractical reasons.
« Last Edit: October 20, 2011, 02:16:47 PM by Visigoth »
Logged

tim2000s

  • Administrator
  • International Superstar
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10678
  • Trade Count: (+21)
  • If I only could bat....
Re: Much of a muchness
« Reply #17 on: October 20, 2011, 02:37:06 PM »

      I guess it is important for everyone to rationally examine whether or not it makes sense to buy an expensive bat. I can't answer for others, but I can share my thoughts on the matter which may well be very wrong. I play low level cricket for fun and recreation here in the U.S.. Odd? Yes, but I did a Master's degree at a university in the UK long ago and fell in love with the game, and my wife is from Guyana so we have a ready and eager pool of players here. Clearly, I don't need a high quality bat for "performance improvement". To think that would be to fall victim to the marketing traps so often found in golf, where 30 handicappers buy the latest driver and the same balls Tiger Woods uses. Nor would I buy one for all of the vanity/ stupidity reasons that are very common here in the U.S., like "I deserve the best," or to show off that one can afford the best.
     So, why? I will draw an analogy to fly fishing. I grew up fly fishing as a boy in the High Sierras. I now use exclusively bamboo rods that are made by small scale individual makers from places as disparate as Sweden and Alaska. I enjoy the interaction with the maker, and the beauty of a rod made from natural and not space age materials. I admire the craftsmanship and the effort that has gone into mastering the craft. Fishing with a bamboo rod is just a different experience---yes, I would get more fish if I threw a grenade in, and I would probably catch the same amount of fish with a cheap rod; but experience is more than mere results. There is also pleasure in learning and experimentation---rods, like bats, can be very different and made to suit different people or situations.

     This is why I don't mind getting a hand made, English willow bat that costs more and will make little practical difference in my score. It enhances my cricket experience to have something beautiful made by an individual, rather than something churned out in a sweat shop, or by a machine. In my cricketing world I enjoy the lunch, the tea, watching my sons play, the camaraderie with the other players, the light, the sun, the breeze, the fact that the clock goes largely unheeded; and so why not have a beautiful bat that reminds me of England? I also enjoy thinking about bats, the theories behind the designs, the endless quest for the perfect fit---all this can be as valuable as an extra yard of distance.  Just some of my impractical reasons.
The poetic justification for owning Bats... Now I hope that Pete Hosk reads this... It certainly resonates with me...
Logged

Canners

  • Forum Legend
  • ******
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5085
  • Trade Count: (+10)
  • go hard or go home
Re: Much of a muchness
« Reply #18 on: October 20, 2011, 02:47:09 PM »

I'm showing that to the missus

Makes perfect sense to me :)
Logged
I don't know how to put this, but, I'm kind of a big deal.

tim2000s

  • Administrator
  • International Superstar
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10678
  • Trade Count: (+21)
  • If I only could bat....
Re: Much of a muchness
« Reply #19 on: October 20, 2011, 02:49:32 PM »

I'm showing that to the missus

Makes perfect sense to me :)
Lol. When your missus finds out what you've done, you'll need it...
Logged

Manormanic

  • Forum Legend
  • ******
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6752
  • Trade Count: (+1)
Re: Much of a muchness
« Reply #20 on: October 20, 2011, 02:55:47 PM »

The poetic justification for owning Bats... Now I hope that Pete Hosk reads this... It certainly resonates with me...

Indeed.  I take slight issue with the lack of improved perforamnce though.  I don't think there is a massive difference in how the bat performs, but I'm sure we all know that if you're using one that you are really comfortable with, you bat better because you feel better.  An example - I have an old, battered Newbery B52 - its not the best piece of willow I own, certainly not the prettiest (though it probably is the biggest) and I've got a lot fo runs with it.  So, my next bat was, as near as damn it, the same but with a nicer set of grains.  Thus far its been used twice because, erm, there is just something about it that does not agree with me...
« Last Edit: October 20, 2011, 02:58:35 PM by Manormanic »
Logged
"to be the man, you've got to beat the man"

Simmy

  • Forum Legend
  • ******
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6101
  • Trade Count: (+3)
Re: Much of a muchness
« Reply #21 on: October 20, 2011, 02:56:52 PM »

^^^^ like @tims comment
Logged
Pages: 1 [2]
 

Advertise on CBF