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[The Palmist]

What grade is the bat you are testing ping on towards the end. The handled bat not the cleft.

thanks

[Aldred Cricket Bats]

Grade 1 the bat in the pressing video

[CrickFreak]

Slightly different thing and a different timber used with different qualities. You can press a cleft more and need no knocking in but the bat will be hard and a small middle. I don't think the knocking in machines really do it properly to be honest. One thing in that process is that even if it did prepare the blade the handle will still be stiff as the day it was bound in the workshop. Throw downs are the still the best thing ever if you can get enough of them in my opinion, ( I realise this from the few thousand I used to have to give dean Jones every day of my cricketing life under him as skipper) Baseball bats are taking impact on a smaller area really, round bat round ball ash has a different natural quality to willow, not  a flat faced bat round ball with an even harder seam, let alone cricket balls that are coming over filled with nuts and bolts to make the middle and weights right. You may think I'm joking but I've seen some that were tested at Loughborough uni that weren't cheap balls either. There are certain things in life that you can't short cut. We are dealing with natural products that we as humans cannot change their properties so we have to take our time with them. It's tough in this day and age of instant everything, but I truly believe it's something that's worth taking your time with.

I fully understand the value of knocking in a bat. But what i hate is why the customer has to prepare the bat after purchase ( there is a paid service blah blah... understood, but why to do it, paid or not). We dont have to prepare a hockey stick, tennis racket, table tennis racket etc. Why the pressing machine cannot be built such that it eliminates knocking. The press has not changed from the ones we see in old videos from 1950s. This is not a question for you alone, just generally thinking why the pressing process/machines have not evolved. Maybe there is a reason...

Using the bat in nets and getting used to it before batting with it in a game makes complete sense, no questions there...

Opening up of the bat after being used in few games is also a bit questionable. It does ping better, but just a little not a whole lot in my opinion. I think what happens it that after using the bat for a long time, your timing and bat speed reaches optimum level giving a feel that the bat pings better but actually its the batsman who has got used to it.

Just my 2 cents...

[Bats_Entertainment]

I think what happens it that after using the bat for a long time, your timing and bat speed reaches optimum level giving a feel that the bat pings better but actually its the batsman who has got used to it.

Are you trying to be Ed Smith?

[jamferg]

Regarding loosening up the handle could you not just press down hard,trying to bend the handle a few times?.. much quicker than the microscopic changes with each throw down

[Aldred Cricket Bats]

yes you can and this is something that I do in our process but you want some of it to be natural and you don't want to over do it and damage the handle either

[Bats_Entertainment]

So when you talk about looseness, do you mean in the splice area?

[Aldred Cricket Bats]

No not at all, let the laminates in the handle loosen and also the bindings to loosen a little as they are bound tight to hold the handle together. If the splice loosens the bats broke basically.

[Bats_Entertainment]

No not at all, let the laminates in the handle loosen and also the bindings to loosen a little as they are bound tight to hold the handle together. If the splice loosens the bats broke basically.

That's what I would have presumed. It's just that previously you spoke of liking a stiff (bat) handle?

[Aldred Cricket Bats]

Yes I do but you need a certain amount of flex. That's why I prefer an oval handle. You certainly don't want a handle flapping around like a stick of liquorice that's for sure. You need just a certain amount of give in it not massive bend.

[Nmcgee]

Yes I do but you need a certain amount of flex. That's why I prefer an oval handle.

Oval handles flex more?

[Nmcgee]

I spoke with a reputable custom bat maker, here in Oz, the other day who swore by 4 piece high-quality cane handles. He suggested that many 12 piece handles have crap cane mixed in with high-quality cane, were often inferior and really just marketing fluff.

He also suggested that podshaving was a craft but bat pressing was an art....he told me how it took years to perfect the art of pressing a bat the right way.

[KIPPERS]

Funny things bats. I had a woodworm hardrive Gold that was absolutely hopeless, like a plank. Used it as a net bat. after about 2 years it totally changed now it cracks beautifully off the face. Also all my mates reckon the handle's gone as it flexes so much, but that seams to put a lot more torque into the shot. I imagine it was over pressed and just uncompressed after a while. Think its going to fall to bits shortly so my piggy banks filling for an Aldred

[Aldred Cricket Bats]

I spoke with a reputable custom bat maker, here in Oz, the other day who swore by 4 piece high-quality cane handles. He suggested that many 12 piece handles have crap cane mixed in with high-quality cane, were often inferior and really just marketing fluff.

He also suggested that podshaving was a craft but bat pressing was an art....he told me how it took years to perfect the art of pressing a bat the right way.

Yes the handles are a tough one. I tried all different types and settled on the ones I have now. They cost me more but they are quality. Again I think it's down to keeping the quality of the materials as good as you can get and then sticking with what works for that company to get the best out of them. It's alright flogging thousands of them but if they are no good it won't be sustainable. It's something I am experimenting with at the moment.
 Pressing yes I think he's right shaping isn't a really hard thing to learn as everyone will find their own shape what suits them best and then you learn the art of making other shapes as you go, but you have to know about pick ups and feel to shape well. Now pressing is really a feel thing. I got my press about 7 years ago. I spent three years learning how to get the clefts to a point of fairly respectful levels of performance then the next thing was getting it consistent with every cleft and the years since have been learning to refine it to where you are getting the ultimate feel and longevity out of each cleft on a consistent basis. When you have no investors you can't afford poor quality or wastage you have to try and provide the best out of everything. I am very happy with what I am producing right now and have great feed back from all levels of cricketer from club to international but your always learning as nothing is ever the same because you are dealing with a natural product

[jamesisapayne]

I heard that while at Somerset, Ricky Ponting used to stand on his bat handles to get them to start loosening up and get more whip in the handle