In the past two weeks I've got my hands on a couple of stunning pieces of willow. My first purchase was a Slazenger V12 Firepower that I picked up in Rebel Sport (Australian equivalent of JJB or SportsDirect?) discount outlet. Went in with no expectations, saw the bat and fell in love with it. RRP was AU$349.99 (roughly 200 GBP) but was stickered at AU$160 (about 92GBP). Naturally, I thought it was an absolute steal and ridiculous that it had been so heavily discounted just because the stickers were a couple of seasons old. Gave it a few good goes with a mallet and knew I had to have it. Would you believe it, the bloody thing scanned for AU$80 (about 45 GBP) an absolute bargain.
Weight: 2'9
Edges: 35mm
Spine: 57mm
Grains: 12 and all nearly dead straight
Has some beautiful heartwood on the outside edge for a right hander, which is what attracted me to the bat initially. There are a couple of superficial things - the finish on the back of the bat isn't great, and the original scuff sheet has been removed and replaced, leaving a little bit of sticky residue behind. Mallet comes off the middle like a rocket and makes a lovely sound.
As I've said, it goes beautifully out of the middle. Needs a couple more hours knocking in still, but for AU$80 I don't see how this bat can be anything but awesome. However, as of today it's probably been relegated to a net bat. I went into Meuleman's here in Perth because they're having a massive sale this weekend (they had nothing worth getting; everything had pretty much gone - good luck to people going for the next two days, but a left hander in Perth can get some top range Screaming Cat pads for $35. I got excited until I realised they were for a leftie!). Being disappointed with the sale, I went and checked out the new Kookaburra and GM ranges, with a keen eye on two of the profiles I loved as a kid that have been returned to their ranges this season - the Bubble and the Maestro. Checking out the Bubbles, I noticed the best of the lot (they had about
was right at the back. I pulled it out, noted the awesome and light pick up. The sales rep, a guy by the name of Scott Meueleman who played first-class cricket for Western Australia, came over and we got chatting about the new shapes and how he and his old man (another former WA player) reckon the Bubbles are the best bats Kookaburra have brought out in years. He noticed the stick in my hand, motions to hold it and says "this is a great bat", plays a few shadow shots and hands it back. Then I notice the sticker on the back - ROCKET DO NOT SELL. He notices the sticker too, then says "I put that there... I was saving that for myself out the back. Someone has put it back on the shelf. Oh well, it's on the shelf so if you want it it's yours." I wanted it alright! His old man comes to the table, notices the bat, says a few things about how these Bubbles are the best bats Kookaburra have done in years and then his son says "that only weighs 2'8". "Bullsh!t", his dad said and picks it up. As soon as he had a good grip of it, his jovial mood turned serious and he looked me dead in the eyes and said "you're going to have to score a lot of runs this season to justify owning this bat... this is good enough for a pro". With that...
Kookaburra Bubble 800
Weight: 2'8
Edges: 45mm
Spine: 78mm
Grains: 16 - larger grains at the edges with tight grouping in the middle - with a nice spot of butterfly staining just off the centre of the sweet spot.
The mallet flew back off this and sounded like a shotgun going off. It's not the top of the range Bubble (that's the Players), but it's the next down apparently and marked as 'A' grade. Set me back $295 (about 170 GBP).
This shot is straight down the blade, showing how much it bows
As he's a teammate of mine, I shot lazza32 off a photo earlier and I've already had him ask to buy it! I think this is going to be a special bat
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Topic: Couple of beauties - Slazenger V12 Firepower and new Kookaburra Bubble 800 (Read 7626 times)