Alright Gentlemen:
So I got this beauty from Asad
A brief background on this purchase: I have been looking for a SS Matrix for sometime after my previous one broke a few years back. It used to be one of my all time favorite and had scored a lot of runs with that one. But the prices of the Matrix in the US is really ridiculous; so when I saw this one in Senor Qureshi’s collection I jumped up from the sofa and quickly put my computer to work
Mails were exchanged across the Atlantic with Senor Qureshi being as helpful as he always is. My requirements were simple: do not care about edge size but want one with good feel, balance and about 10 grains. More than anything it should pass the 'mallet test'. Weight should be between 2.8-2.9; and holla, next day I get these two pictures from Mr Uzi himself; I liked both but looking at my sad wallet decided to go with one
I was told one was pressed a bit more than the other. Impatience being suddenly a prominent virtue of mine I decided to go with the less pressed one which naturally also had a tad bigger profile than the other one. I did not want to spend too much time knocking in a South Asian bat as I have always regarded the quick coming of age time of their bats as a virtue more than a vice. The stated weight was 2.9 which I thought was commensurate with my flagging bisceps (yeah I should quit smoking, should go to the gym more often ..I know, I know)
So I ordered this one. International shipping price was sad; almost lost my left arm on that but thanks to Asad’s wonderful service was able to forget the pain.
This morning the eagle landed on my porch and brought a sunny lining in a previously cloudy day. The packing was done in a way so as to make me salivate even more; so the 10 minutes I spent unwrapping the box, the bubble wraps, the tapes, the knicks and the knacks reminded me of that fine night in high school.
After undressing all the paraphernalia the beauty was revealed to me in its nakedness at last. Well it felt nice from the get go; the balance was superb; the feel was great; the weight is comfortable enough to try out different positions: the upright, the bent on one knee; the pulls and the pushes
Next up was the ball test; the used ball was tapped and the response was immediate, comfortable and with a lot of gusto. What more can we want from this? This was perfect. As usual if you are looking for huge edges SS bats are not for you. But if you are looking for an off the shelf bat with some of best responsive pressing unless you are unlucky, you cannot go wrong with a SS. Apart from the acronym I have always had a very high opinion of these ones.
Here are some pictures I thought I should share with you; sorry for the mess and the blabbering. This one might replace my beloved CA as my new match bat.
Author
Topic: Breaking and Entering the Matrix: Me, Asad and the story of the SS (Read 2537 times)