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[mattw]

I'm speaking from a personal perspective, but I loved the variety the market offered. Salix, M&H and Newbery were quintessentially premium English brands, producing quality products. They were be the Jaguar or Rolls Royce of cricket brands, with luxury leather seats, chrome touches and wood interior. Perhaps they could be deemed as stuffy, and not cool enough for the kids but I loved the style and their respective brands.

On their bats in particular the coloured branding feels a little half arsed, there's no finishing touches. It's a bunch of flat colours on a bat, they must be the cheapest stickers to produce for any brand. No chrome touchers, no embossing, no spot varnishing. And yet, they still expect the buyers to pay prices similar to the premium brands?

The move might be better financially, and they may sell more. It sounds like I'm wrong, but I do miss some of the classic colours and English feel this brand gave off. You have the name of the best batmaker ever on your bats, and I'd love for them to give their bats the premium branding to match.

Agreed, completely went off M&H when they went to this new look. They've lost their brand identity for me.

[jwebber86]

I love the colour scheme of the pink and blue softs. can't imagine i would ever buy anything from them just because of the value for money.

i know quite a few people that own lots of their kit. im only 25 miles away so they are quite popular in my area. some people do love them, also the fact that they can go to the factory and pick it up.

as much as i love the bright colour schemes. i do agree with the comments about m&h being a premium brand and if i didn't kow better i wouldnt think this was m&h

[ItsJustCricket]

M&H are not the only brand to jazz up a "classy/traditional/stylish/luxury" range - look at Newbery.  I can understand why some don't like it, but like it or not, the market is heading this way, and the cricket market evolves more quickly than the tuxedo market in my opinion.  You only need to look at the changes in bat sizes and shapes and T20 cricket in general to understand that.

I am not saying M&H branding is my favourite, but I like it, and understand completely why they are doing it.  Their prices aren't affordable for all - and they may not be as good at finishing as some - but they are always different from the others in some way and will always stand out from the crowd.  For example, I know of no other brand that is attempting 50-55mm edges on a standard SH bat (for all formats - not just a T20 gimmick bat), so they have cornered the market for that!

[Northern monkey]

Kippax ?

[ItsJustCricket]

Kippax ?

A brand that is available to retail, I mean!

[hell4leather cricket]

Are these bats made by m&h ?

[smilley792]

A brand that is available to retail, I mean!

Gray nics?

[ItsJustCricket]

Are these bats made by m&h ?

have to assume so, but I am sure I will find out for sure when I visit!

I do know they have hired up a new trainee bat maker - a carpenter and actually the same guy who built the bat rack at their place (the same as the one in our Platinum Lounge!)

[ItsJustCricket]

Gray nics?

sadly the actual Warner shape isn't available, and I know of no other Gray-Nicolls bat that would compare to these.

[Neon Cricket]

A brand that is available to retail, I mean!

http://www.allroundercricket.com/cricket-bats/all-our-cricket-bats/cricket-bat-brands/kippax-cricket-bats

Looks like a retailer to me!

[ItsJustCricket]

http://www.allroundercricket.com/cricket-bats/all-our-cricket-bats/cricket-bat-brands/kippax-cricket-bats

Looks like a retailer to me!

didn't know that.  To be honest, we don't really keep tabs on All Rounder.  They won't let us follow them on Twitter, which doesn't help.  I'd be surprised if you see them in other shops, at least for the time being.

[Neon Cricket]

To be fair, they've got an exclusivity deal with All Rounder so you're right in them not being open to the entire market at present - http://www.kippaxcricket.co.uk/where-to-buy/

I do agree with others on the M&H front, as a youth for me they were one of the pinnacle brands when it came to classic styling (albeit horrendously too expensive for me) - just a shame they've ditched it all!

[SLC]

Always had m&h but since the ck 22 style came in I've not been a fan, and prices seem to have nearly doubled from 3 years ago. Something different for me when my solution finally goes.

[ItsJustCricket]

Always had m&h but since the ck 22 style came in I've not been a fan, and prices seem to have nearly doubled from 3 years ago. Something different for me when my solution finally goes.

Worth noting that the older shapes (MH09, MH96 and MH87) have not increased in price at all for 2016 and they stayed the same this year too.  The CK22 is the same price for 2016 too.  The increases are only in the other (newer) bats, so across the range as a whole, M&H have actually frozen more of their bat prices than most others in the past couple of years...

[Bats_Entertainment]

NC?