So- I got this bat from Paul earlier this year and had been planning to do a review on the forum for sometime. But life, babies, professorial duties, and the weather had been holding me back. The bat had come knocked in but I was still waiting to put it to good use as our indoor nets have incredible high bounce whereas the outside pitches tend to have low skiddy bounce and this bat has a really low, nice middle. The outside surfaces we play on during the season dictated my choice of this bat. Specially at the beginning of the season when it is raining all the time, some of the pitches are simply ridiculous to play on simply because of the lowness of the bounce.
The first thing one will notice about the bat is the middle position. It is genuinely low. With Viking, the toe is of a unique shape where the duckbill is chiseled from all sides. But this one has a fairly thick toe . I was vacillating between this one and the Jorvik profile where the spine runs through down to the the toe but with Paul's recommendation I decided to go for this particular bat.
The reasons for which this bat stands out to me:
a) Profile: Low middle (if you play on low bouncy tracks, guys, this should be a great addition to your arsenal). Absolutely dome shaped full profile. Weight is 2.8 but the profile is quite big for that weight. The edges are close to 40mm and the spine is quite high as well. Though the bat has a low middle, the response from a little high up is not shoddy. I guess the dome shaped profile helps in this. The toe is easily in the 20s mm range as well. I don't exactly remember the exact number but I had measured it when I first got the bat. BTW, the bat has about 8 straightish grains.
b) Price: With the VAT off for me, the value of this bat was mouth watering. It is supposedly a Grade 1 bat.
c) Pressing: I am quite impressed with the pressing. It feels soft and responsive. I took it for a game last weekend after just one net session. It was raining and we defended 94 in 20 overs so I am hoping that proper sunny weather will get the best out of this soon.
d) Stickers: I love the embossed stickers and color combination of the black and gold. Nothing is too odd and the looks are well, quite refined and handsome.
e) Pickup: Well, with a low middle like this one has, I expected the pick up to be far worse than what it turned out to be. The handle is semi-oval and it came with a snake-skin grip. I added a white chevron to help in the pickup. Honestly, the one advice I will have for the makers would be to make the handle oval, specially for this profile so that the pick-up weight distribution becomes even better.
Overall- this has been a happy purchase for me as I make my way back into cricket.
Here are some pictures that we can enjoy. Please pardon the poor quality-- my cell phone is getting to be rather old. I will update the thread with a more detailed performance description of the bat as the season progresses.
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Topic: Viking: The Gold Cricket Bat (Read 2210 times)