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[Cover_Drive]

Since bat prices are sky-rocketing as every minute passes by, which means we pay premium price for our beloved willows. So my question is simple, when you buy a bat (online or in store) what do you look out for? Do you look for specific edge size? Handle type? and so on.

[toby176]

I'm really quite fussy about my handle, I like it to be very oval and not to think, not to thin and just have a specific feel.

For example, A made of mine has a Bradbury Players X which is the best bat from Bradbury and destined for someone playing for Western Australia. It has the best ping I have ever felt on any bat! Better then my H4L. But the handle is just horrific! Its not even round, it seems to be slightly oval but the other way to what they usually are! So that. A big bat is also nice to see, but its a bit down the list of important-ness.

What do you look for mate?

[ammo]

I look for pick-up(handel counts in this) and ping.

[ItsJustCricket]

Middle position (low), ping, pick-up, nice grains, attractive stickers (although this one is less important for me than it used to be)...

[Buzz]

something that will give me 1500 runs and 3 hundreds!
the handle shape is important, but can be slightly adjusted, weight and pick up are also very important for me. Then it is all about performance and middle position.

the bat needs to make me feel like I will score runs with it every time I play.

[toenails97]

I look at the finish (I regard salix very highly!), the weight and pick up, how much meats in the middle of the bat, where the middle is and mostly ping then grain structure

[vividgreen]

The pickup, balance and feel of the bat - i love bats that feel lighter than they actually are, so fatique doesn't set in when your mid innings looking for your second wind. Occassionally you find a bat that just feels perfect and when this happens you are destined to score runs because you have no outside distractions from your equipment.

Obviously the middle is very important (bigger the sweet spot the better)

My best bat was a Screaming Cat of 2.9 that felt like a 2.7 and played beautifully from its first net session - currently full of fiberglass tape holding it together (goes like a rocket).

[Simmy]

ive had alot of bats... and i dont think im fussy i will use anything...

as long as the middle is good and in the right place for me and it can clear the boundry i am happy!

usually like an oval handle but im not fussed if its round

[RightArmRapid]

I expect it to sail over the boundary when properly middled, beyond this im not overly bothered.

[tim2000s]

I expect that when held, the bat will transform me into Kevin Pietersen, allowing me to score runs with ease to every corner of the park, and dominate every bowler I face (we don't have any left arm spinners). It doesn't need to be massive, just ping awesomely and make me a much better player...

And when I return to planet earth, it just has to "feel" right.

[ammo]

You have changed the way i think about bats now 

[Perkins17]

I like a nice round handle with indentations for my bottom hand but i like one at about 14oz to help with pick up and then  performance but Barr that I'm not massively fussed as long as it picks up well

[Colesy]

I like bats with mid middles, no concaving, oval handles and traditional edges that pick up well.

What I use is a bat with a mid/low middle, lots of concaving, slight oval handle, medium bowed edges and picks up well. I'm happy if it works for me.

[trypewriter]

If it taps up exceptionally well I can be very forgiving in almost all other areas, including handle shape. For me, dead weight is more important than pick up. Anything 2-12 and up is too much for me these days.

[PeteW]

1) small edges and big spine height.
I really don't understand why there's this trend to waste precious willow on the edges - to me it seems like the batsman's equivalent of setting a field for poor bowling.

2) low middle
I'm a predominantly back-foot player, but even when I'm playing pull shots I find I'm trying (though admittedly not always succeeding..) to hit the ball off the lower portion of the blade - I guess it's travelling faster.

3) good pick up
far more important to me than dead weight. Obviously not too heavy, but not too light either.