id never buy a bat from that company again if they didnt replace that.
Looks to be because of the handle/splice to me.
No bat should break there like that unless there is a manufacturing fault.
Garrett, no bat should break there, and when it does, it is not normal. It is also not a manufacturing fault. This is storm damage, which is extremely difficult, almost impossible to detect in a cleft form, and even more difficult once the bat is made. The willow grower is aware of it, as is the merchant as there are irregular growths on the tree if it has recovered and continued to grow, or if it has shattered due to the storm... Pretty obvious. The willow merchant does not always pass the information on to the purchaser, and once a cleft of willow has had any action made to it, even if the face is planed, the willow merchant will not take it back. Also, When breakage like this does happen, there is no remedy to the bat maker.
When Carberry broke his bat in spectacular fashion, Mike Hussey blamed the way the handle had been put in, and people believed him, not for his actual knowledge of manufacture. He knows how to use a bat, like you know how to drive a car, but that does not automatically give you the knowledge on how it is built, what exactly has caused a problem and how to fix it.
I empathise with B3 having a problem aired publicly especially when it is in no way their fault.