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[Edward Lowy]

Apologies, i must have missed that. Thanks for answering.

No prob - post 312 above

[Chad]

Top questions!

In terms of drying, we only put willow into production when it reaches a specific moisture content. As part of the DXM investment we fundamentally changed how we season and condition the timber, which is much more effective, but the moisture content criteria has not changed. This is an important point - a company can dry out a piece of timber more so that it will be lighter (moisture = weight), and then produce a bat that appears to be big and light. However, it will not be durable and is not something that we will do.

Absolute top end willow is getting increasingly difficult to source - this will affect the whole industry in due course. In a way the bat you are talking about is a slightly bigger 1885 so yes it can be done, we would need to run the numbers to see what sort of weights would be produced.

Thanks for your comments about info on the website - across our businesses, we feel that our customers are after more and more information, so we try to provide it. The bat spectrum shows at a glance details about our entire bat range. The height of the bat on the graph shows where the swell is, the rest of the info shows dimensions etc - we are pleased with how this is developing - it has now been updated for 2014 :
http://www.gm-cricket.com/pages/bat-spectrum.aspx

Pressing - there seems to be some confusion on this very important point.

We achieve the different face curvatures by machining, not by pressing. When the clefts are then pressed, we use the same pressures on the different faces. The vital point here is that we will only use the correct roller for the specific face curvature - so we have three different sets of tooling for F7, F4.5 & F2. Sadly, many manufacturers only use one roller profile irrespective of the specific shape they are pressing. This leads to incomplete contact between roller and willow, variable pressure applied across the face of the bat, and inconsistency in use as a natural consequence of less than rigorous manufacturing processes.

We don't do that at GM Nottingham.

Kind regards

Edward

Thanks for the answer Edward, it was the pressing which was bugging me, but the extra weight all makes sense now. I always thought that the pressing was how most manufacturers got the curvature! I think it's definitely a better way to do it, as it means you get a much more even pressing throughout the width of the blade.

I do wish you guys produced an F4.5 Purist though as I'm not a huge fan of very flat faces, but having said that, I've yet to give a flat faced bat a proper go, so might try that in the nets sometime.

[Beachcricket]

At what point are the bats weighed to establish what weight they'll make? Before profiling and pressing or after.

[Colesy]

Edward, why are GM handles so nice?

[Edward Lowy]

Thanks for the answer Edward, it was the pressing which was bugging me, but the extra weight all makes sense now. I always thought that the pressing was how most manufacturers got the curvature! I think it's definitely a better way to do it, as it means you get a much more even pressing throughout the width of the blade.

I do wish you guys produced an F4.5 Purist though as I'm not a huge fan of very flat faces, but having said that, I've yet to give a flat faced bat a proper go, so might try that in the nets sometime.

Ah but if we produced a Purist F4.5, there would be howls of anguish & derision about too many bats in the range, confusion, bafflement and bewilderment that we have lost the plot.

Give it time - as I said way back in the thread, my gut feel is that there will be a swing back from F2 over time and the pendulum which rested for 125 years or so over F7 may just swing a little closer to F4.5.

Some profiles lend themselves to working with different faces, some don't. Me? I like your thinking!

Kind regards

Edward

[Edward Lowy]

At what point are the bats weighed to establish what weight they'll make? Before profiling and pressing or after.

The clefts are weighed pre manufacture - the part finished bats are weighed during and post production

Kind regards

Edward

[Edward Lowy]

Edward, why are GM handles so nice?

Because we only pick them from Happy Handle Trees!

[Beachcricket]

Thanks Edward, it's all interesting and very helpful.

[Torque]

Hi Edward,

I'm not sure if you answered this earlier but, why aren't you 'pro pads' available to purchase to the general public?

Thanks.

P.S - Hope you had a good birthday!

[ProWannabe88]

Because we only pick them from Happy Handle Trees!

I'm going to plant one of those in my garden. Sounds like a truly magical thing

[Edward Lowy]

Hi Edward,

I'm not sure if you answered this earlier but, why aren't you 'pro pads' available to purchase to the general public?

Thanks.

P.S - Hope you had a good birthday!

Thanks for birthday wishes. Pads not for sale because, um, we probably didn't think anyone would want buy them! Would they?

[toenails97]

Thanks for birthday wishes. Pads not for sale because, um, we probably didn't think anyone would want buy them! Would they?

Of course we would! If you released pads exactly like your pros that would go down a treat.....

[Chad]

Ah but if we produced a Purist F4.5, there would be howls of anguish & derision about too many bats in the range, confusion, bafflement and bewilderment that we have lost the plot.

Give it time - as I said way back in the thread, my gut feel is that there will be a swing back from F2 over time and the pendulum which rested for 125 years or so over F7 may just swing a little closer to F4.5.

Some profiles lend themselves to working with different faces, some don't. Me? I like your thinking!

Kind regards

Edward

Hey, I'm all up for more bats in the range, as long as it means the ones I want aren't excluded! Interesting that some types of face work better than others, I would have thought the Six6 was aimed to be a T20 bat, (Going by name) so would have the flat face, although with the Zona in the range, would be pretty pointless having two T20 bats.

Just quickly glancing at the volumes and weight ranges of bats, I noticed that the Argon F2 has a lower volume than the Purist, Zona and Icon F2, but has a larger weight. I'm assuming that you guys are planning to make the handles thicker, or maybe even use heavier handles/wood for the Argon? I hope it's the handle size, as the thin handle put me off the Argon this year. (Loved the shape)

Of course we would! If you released pads exactly like your pros that would go down a treat.....

Hmmm... Not 100% sure about that. I think that two logos is pretty necessary when advertising off the screen! Of course, maybe I'm wrong, but not everyone notices that there is only one logo on the pads, and some folk like both logos. (Kind of a value for money thing!) I've never been fussed about the pads pros wear, as long as they look alright, function well and fit nicely for me, that's what matters. There could be a market there though, and I could be spouting absolute rubbish!

[Vitas Cricket]

Thanks for birthday wishes. Pads not for sale because, um, we probably didn't think anyone would want buy them! Would they?

Kookaburra Pro Edition pads and gloves are some of the things our customers request the most. I can oocasionally get it, but it is very hit and miss.

If you had some in your trade price list, i would stock it. Well, i say stock it, i guarantee it wouldn't hang around in store for long.

There is brand identity to consider though. Unless you know what you are looking for, or get close enough to see, pro pads all look very similar due to the ICC regulations.

[Kez]

Of course we would! If you released pads exactly like your pros that would go down a treat.....

Pro pads would have less advertising- why would they release that?