Virtually everything IJC has said is exactly what GM are, yet IJC refuse to stock GM? They are honest, open, any member of the public can ask to go and visit the facility and see everything they do first hand. The bats are entirely made in Nottingham, the only sticking point seems to be this obsession with handpicking?
Some extracts from the about us page on the Newbery website:
''At Newbery we can trace our bat making heritage back to 1919 when the Newbery family first made handmade cricket bats in the picturesque surroundings of East Sussex, England.
Our unique skills have been handed down through generation from John Newbery and we have an expert history that we still apply today to produce the highest quality custom cricket bats and cricket supplies.
In a space dominated by mass machine produced hardware Newbery is a bastion of British craftsmanship committed to keeping these values alive and kicking. The philosophy of Newbery remains the same now as it did in 1919: Quality, aesthetic and performance.''
''When crafting the bat each individual cleft (block of Willow) is selected, assessed and hand crafted with traditional tools.''
The video itself at the top of the about us page shows a bat being crafted in a very traditional manner. There is not even a cameo appearance from Tim's CNC machine.
It has been asked (and seemingly ignored) already by a couple of people, but why is Newbery treated differently to the brands you have dropped? Moreover, as suggested by Tom, why is the Platinum bat being marketed in the exact way you have said you feel is wrong?
To clear a few things up. Whilst of course there is a close and historic relationship between the Keeleys and Newbery, it is now a straightforward fact that Newbery do not make any bats themselves. They contract out the work and make very good use of Tim's CNC machine. IJC's stance that they won't stock brands who mislead customers doesn't really stack up given the claims about traditional techniques made on Newberys website. This is not me poo-pooing the CNC process at all, Tim is one of the finest bat makers out there, if not the best. Much of his skill and fine detailed work on a bat cannot be replicated by a CNC machine. He still puts plenty of handcrafted time into his bats, just not as much as the batmakers in 1919 did as suggested by Newbery, indeed they seemingly go a step further by referring to mass machine production in a negative manner...
As a quick aside, it is widely known that Tim doesn't make junior bats, Newberys junior bats (i suspect) are imported, I don't know where from but a while ago i think it was from Bellingham Smith in SA. Is this something IJC customers are made aware of?
OK, I will address Newbery briefly. I can see your point. As I said in an earlier post, the word "handmade" may be the only inconsistency, but as the bat makers still do much of the work by hand, it's close to irrelevant in my opinion.
The Platinum bats are all fully made in England - including the harrow ones. They will all continue to be made here, including the new Bronze, Silver and Gold bats (assuming that we go ahead with them). We also designed them from scratch and don't just put the stickers on. Maybe I am missing something, but I am struggling to see how they are not following our ethos?
Author
Topic: Cricket Bat Manufacturers vs. Cricket Bat Brands (Read 53753 times)