Print

[Chad]

Hi guys, final one for tonight, I swear!

So, I spotted Lorimers selling 2 SPS Krakatoas on eBay, and managed to pick up the one which went for less!

It's actually a small bat for the weight by todays standards, it weighs just a shade under 2lb 11.5oz, with 35mm edges and a spine height of around 55mm, taking into account the 4.5mm face camber. The handle is a thin oval, and it has a thin chevron. I have compared it to a BB which I purchased a while back, which is 2lb 10.2oz, with a thicker handle, but is almost identical in terms of shape, and if anything is very slightly bigger. (BB is meant to be a Misbah ul-Haq profiled bat) In terms of looks, it is pretty decent, with 7 evenly spread all sapwood grains. However, the looks seem pretty ordinary compared to the BB!

As you'd expect from Newbery, the finishing is good on this bat, but I found the top of the handle to be poorly finished. (Fibres of the cane were peeling) Pick up wise, you can tell it's reasonably weighty, has a small touch of bottom heaviness, but not so much as to ruin the balance.

Anyways, pictures below!









Blank Bats 'Misbah profile'



Unclear, but look at them grains through the toe!



Comparison





Purely on response, the Newbery seems to go like a train! This is the second SPS I've had in my hands, and I have to say that it seems like the SPS grade is definitely a step above the 5 Star and Players Grades I've come across! It isn't really 'soft' feeling or sounding, but rather a more crisp feeling, which is a bit different from the SPS Tour I had previously owned.

So in conclusion, a very well made bat despite being rather small for the weight. It would seem that the density of the cleft most likely doesn't play quite nearly as significant a part to the response of a cricket bat as the pressing and other natural variations within the cleft! (Had compared to other similarly weighted bats, which seemed to be no better than this!)

[InternalTraining]

That BB looks amazing!

How high is the middle? How is the ping? What kind of pitches do you play on? Bouncy, astro turf?

[Chad]

That BB looks amazing!

How high is the middle? How is the ping? What kind of pitches do you play on? Bouncy, astro turf?

Hi bud, yeah, the BB is pretty damn nice! The ping is good, but it feels like it needs a bit of prep/playing in before it will get really good! The middle is probably more of a mid, but generous higher up and lower down. Funny thing is I'd say the Krakatoa has a nicer ping lower down, but maybe not quite as good higher up. I reckon this is probably just cause of the pick up of both bats.

I play on Astro and low grass wickets. Astro can generally keep low or bounce a bit haha, but I generally prefer to play shots on the front foot, and need the middle to be nearly everywhere on the bat haha.