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[Number4]

Not really, as we may know what the TON logo means and who SS are, but I highly doubt that many would know about SS, especially if the bat is stickered as something else but has the TON logo still on.

Look at Australia, prior to this year only 1 major cricket specialist stocked SS bats and that was Kingsgrove in NSW. GCCC stocks them as well now, so more exposure for them.

Four brands which aren't really known in Australia are SS, BAS, CA and SG, and they would probably make alot of the well known brand bats between them. Even Adidas isn't really known in Australia, and I can olny think of only one first class player in Steven Okeefe (NSW Captain) who uses their gear.

 I think the only people who wouldn't know these brands would be non-cricketers Langer. All these bats are well enough known brands. Just because they haven't been stocked in Australia doesn't mean they aren't a well known brand.

[PedalsMcgrew]

Personally, I think the practice of using one brand of bat which wears the stickers of another is pretty out of order. What they are essentially saying is that the brand that sponsors them can't make a bat good enough for them. I'm absolutely amazed that the likes of Puma, Slazenger etc allow this happen. If the 'big brands' money is good enough for the players then their equipment should be as well. If it is not then what are the sponsored players actually giving back to their sponsors in the way of feedback to ensure the quality of their gear improves to a level where it is good enough? 

If I was the owner of Puma or similar and one of my sponsored players did that then they wouldn't be a sponsored player for much longer!

[Number4]

Personally, I think the practice of using one brand of bat which wears the stickers of another is pretty out of order. What they are essentially saying is that the brand that sponsors them can't make a bat good enough for them. I'm absolutely amazed that the likes of Puma, Slazenger etc allow this happen. If the 'big brands' money is good enough for the players then their equipment should be as well. If it is not then what are the sponsored players actually giving back to their sponsors in the way of feedback to ensure the quality of their gear improves to a level where it is good enough? 

If I was the owner of Puma or similar and one of my sponsored players did that then they wouldn't be a sponsored player for much longer!

It has nothing to do with how good the bat is... It's about showing the Labels on the bat..

So where does everyone here stand on English players showing sponsors on bats that don't even make cricket gear???

[shaqharris]

One of the oddest things i saw was Chad Keegan coming in to the chalet at the same time as me and picking up some Newbery made SS bats which all seemed the wrong way round to me!

Chad Kegan was a legend haha when I went to see middlsex vs Durham a few years ago he had a pint with me

[Wills]

Not really, as we may know what the TON logo means and who SS are, but I highly doubt that many would know about SS, especially if the bat is stickered as something else but has the TON logo still on.

Look at Australia, prior to this year only 1 major cricket specialist stocked SS bats and that was Kingsgrove in NSW. GCCC stocks them as well now, so more exposure for them.

Four brands which aren't really known in Australia are SS, BAS, CA and SG, and they would probably make alot of the well known brand bats between them. Even Adidas isn't really known in Australia, and I can olny think of only one first class player in Steven Okeefe (NSW Captain) who uses their gear.

Before I knew about this forum, I genuinely thought that there was such a bat as a Reebok Ton and surprisingly some ebay sellers even had such a bat!

[PedalsMcgrew]

It has nothing to do with how good the bat is... It's about showing the Labels on the bat..

So where does everyone here stand on English players showing sponsors on bats that don't even make cricket gear???

Sorry, I may well be getting the wrong end of the stick here but that doesn't make any sense at all.  If it's not about the relative performance between the bats Puma supply him and the bats SS (or whomever it might be) supply him then why do it at all?

As for England players carrying bank sponsorship or Red Bull stickers etc then I see no problem with that at all. It's not like these brands are pretending to make any of the gear they are wearing is it?

[Tom]

I'd like to see players using the brand of bats they advertise. But from my dealings with pros I know it's a lot more complicated to supply them something they deem suitable.

[langer17]

I'd like to see players using the brand of bats they advertise. But from my dealings with pros I know it's a lot more complicated to supply them something they deem suitable.

Isn't that something they should work out before they sign then?

[Number4]

Sorry, I may well be getting the wrong end of the stick here but that doesn't make any sense at all.  If it's not about the relative performance between the bats Puma supply him and the bats SS (or whomever it might be) supply him then why do it at all?

Sorry may not have worded that correctly

One word   MONEY... They don't care what bat it is as long as it performs... What they do care about is how much money their sponsors will pay them for putting there stickers on there bats

[Tom]

Isn't that something they should work out before they sign then?

It generally is. You send them samples. Their agent says yeh they're okay. Deal signed.

Then they use whatever they want. You're not going to cancel a deal with a player who gives you so much exposure and is in all your marketing material, just because his bat occasionally says TON on the edge or his bat is a different profile to the shop bats. If you did decide to cancel then it'd cost a fortune in lawyer fees, probably ending up in court.

[langer17]

It generally is. You send them samples. Their agent says yeh they're okay. Deal signed.

Then they use whatever they want. You're not going to cancel a deal with a player who gives you so much exposure and is in all your marketing material, just because his bat occasionally says TON on the edge or his bat is a different profile to the shop bats.

Fair enough.

[langer17]

I don't know anything about the bloke,  but I just looked at Tiwary's stats, and his first class average is almost 60 (59.95) after 74 innings and 3957 runs (15 Centuries and 10 Half Centuries), so he must be pretty good. Anyone reckon he will play test's after Tendaulker and Dravid go?

Edit - Looks like he hasn't played any cricket outside of India though

[Number4]

Question for you Tom:

Why do they use other bats?... Is it because the bats they use are better?.. The best?. Or they persieve to be the best?... Are the bats that they are sponsored by not good enough?

[PedalsMcgrew]

Question for you Tom:

Why do they use other bats?... Is it because the bats they use are better?.. The best?. Or they persieve to be the best?... Are the bats that they are sponsored by not good enough?

Good question! I can't think of any reason why, in this instance, Rob Pack cannot produce a Puma (I assume he would make their pro bats??) at least as good as the SS Tiwary is using.

[Tom]

Question for you Tom:

Why do they use other bats?... Is it because the bats they use are better?.. The best?. Or they persieve to be the best?... Are the bats that they are sponsored by not good enough?

Definitely not because the bats they get aren't good enough. I've never had one pro say a bat didn't ping.

It's a case of what they're used to. Handle flex, handle size and pressing (sometimes it felt hard, or too soft) were the main reasons I had agents complaining. They're hard things to rectify without a pro spending a day with the batmaker. Which is impossible if your pro is Australian and your factories are in India/England