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[ItsJustCricket]

Any experiences of these? Good, bad or ugly?

I have never used one and we're getting mixed reviews from customers.  Want to find out a bit more about them...

Kookaburra seems to like them for their T20 bats, and this year's Bradburys are all flat faced, too.  What are the main benefits?

[tim2000s]

Any experiences of these? Good, bad or ugly?

I have never used one and we're getting mixed reviews from customers.  Want to find out a bit more about them...

Kookaburra seems to like them for their T20 bats, and this year's Bradburys are all flat faced, too.  What are the main benefits?

Buzz would say that it gives you more control over where you hit the ball. I would say it makes the edges look thicker without adding too much weight...

[Leddster138]

I've just picked up two bradburys and whilst they are amazing bats I've yet to see anything out of the ordinary from the flat face.

It may just be too make the sides look a little bigger as everyone is obsessed with edge size

[tim2000s]

I'd say that it doesn't seem to affect the way I bat, and on my Laver Ultra, the main benefit of the flat face is that the edges are big enough to hit a six with... 

[ItsJustCricket]

Does it affect ping at all? The bats I've knocked in with flat faces have all sounded pretty good - especially the Bradburys...

[petehosk]

I noticed at the Lords Trade Show that the Bradbury bats were flat faced!
Had a CF Premier Cru and that is flat faced. These feel a little strange to start with but once you get used to them, they seem fine and (as Buzz says) they seem to be a little more accurate. There is also the thinking that if it's not bowed then it is harder to play lofted shots......but quite frankly, the CF goes like an absolute rocket so that doesn't realy come into it!
By the way, the CF now belongs to Pedals who I'm sure will also comment on the bat, but it's worth at least 2 mentions! 

[petehosk]

Also that same CF did rather well in the Batoffs so didn't seem to bother many people!

[tim2000s]

I think that's the point Pete, it really doesn't make a massive difference for most people. I'd agree that the CF is a beauty.

[petehosk]

To be fair, the flatter face did take a bit of getting used to!
And it does add some more size to the edges, although I'm not sure if this is the reason some makers do the flat face!

[ItsJustCricket]

To be fair, the flatter face did take a bit of getting used to!
And it does add some more size to the edges, although I'm not sure if this is the reason some makers do the flat face!

What is the reason, then? A slightly larger playing area as well? Sharper edges?

[petehosk]

Well - I would only be speculating if I commented.
This is the time we could do with Paul Bradbury, Charlie French or James Lever commenting to give their specific reasons for these flatter faced profiles!!

[ItsJustCricket]

Well - I would only be speculating if I commented.
This is the time we could do with Paul Bradbury, Charlie French or James Lever commenting to give their specific reasons for these flatter faced profiles!!

Agreed, thanks for your input though - that helps and has given me a bit if a better understanding about them...

[tim2000s]

Agreed, thanks for your input though - that helps and has given me a bit if a better understanding about them...

I'm pretty sure that streaky mentioned that it was a quick way to provide bigger edges and better shot placement, although as he is no longer with GM, he may have been wrong!

[Tom]

Used to make flat face bats for shops and convex/domed face for players. That's because our batmaker felt he could get the best performance from the convex faced bats, but shops wanted bigger edge bats.

Streaky did a blog on perceived size here, where he touches on flat faces: http://www.cricketinsight.co.uk/2012/06/19/bat-weights-and-bat-makers-magic-wands/

[PedalsMcgrew]

I noticed at the Lords Trade Show that the Bradbury bats were flat faced!
Had a CF Premier Cru and that is flat faced. These feel a little strange to start with but once you get used to them, they seem fine and (as Buzz says) they seem to be a little more accurate. There is also the thinking that if it's not bowed then it is harder to play lofted shots......but quite frankly, the CF goes like an absolute rocket so that doesn't realy come into it!
By the way, the CF now belongs to Pedals who I'm sure will also comment on the bat, but it's worth at least 2 mentions! 

My CF (Thanks Pete!) is a stunning bat but I reckon it would still be stunning without a flat face....it's just perfectly pressed and suits my game (and a lot of other peoples!) I really don't think the flat face makes any difference at all to performance. Even if it does make it slightly easier to place the ball, I very much doubt any of us are good enough to notice that difference in accuracy!