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[sanredrose]

Got this link from FCS website. Safe to say the names listed here are either current or past customers for whom FCS made some gear.

[sarg]

I did not even think of checking that, great detective work Sanredrose. Sometimes i think bat makers are all so hush hush about this stuff. Now it's published information. I knew the spartan and new balance felt similar in pressing as I've knocked both in for players here in Adelaide.

[Bats_Entertainment]

Why do people continue to support this nonsense?

[WalkingWicket37]

Why do people continue to support this nonsense?

Because stickers sell bats, and people will buy "the same bat" they  see their favourite players using on the telly.

[Gurujames]

No point buying a new balance, kookaburra or Spartan. May as well go to sports direct and get a slazenger. They are all the same.

[Bats_Entertainment]

Not exactly. I don't think we're doubting that SG, SS or Sondhi are capable of making a very good cricket bat.

[Gurujames]

How do you think they decide which bats go to which brand? Do the 'worst' performing bats go to be slazenger? Are they selected randomly? Are the more experienced makers put on to make for the 'bigger brands'?

[Bats_Entertainment]

How do you think they decide which bats go to which brand? Do the 'worst' performing bats go to be slazenger? Are they selected randomly? Are the more experienced makers put on to make for the 'bigger brands'?

Some Slazenger bats are probably pretty good.  Same as with the other big brands. I don"t think that is really the issue.

[edge]

How do you think they decide which bats go to which brand? Do the 'worst' performing bats go to be slazenger? Are they selected randomly? Are the more experienced makers put on to make for the 'bigger brands'?

Er... they're not just knocking out the same shapes over and over! Someone at NB is gonna notice if they get sent a batch of Kahunas instead of the duckbill DC shape they ordered.

[Gurujames]

I'm not suggesting that they are knocking out the same shapes. However, i imagine that the brand with the biggest contract get the best service.

[Bats_Entertainment]

They get the service they pay for, I expect. It's business!

[sanredrose]

No point buying a new balance, kookaburra or Spartan. May as well go to sports direct and get a slazenger. They are all the same.

Probably not. If i were a customer outsourcing bat-making to FCS then i would expect them to make bats according to my specification. I wouldn't accept if they crank out some regular shapes and stick my labels on them. I am pretty sure big clients like Kookaburra, NB, Spartan etc would have absolute bargaining power in this regard. FCS - Protos brand is a good one, but its not a popular one. For them to sustain in this business, they would say "yes" to anything these clients are asking for.

[sanredrose]

How do you think they decide which bats go to which brand? Do the 'worst' performing bats go to be slazenger? Are they selected randomly? Are the more experienced makers put on to make for the 'bigger brands'?

Does Slaz have a lot of worst performing bats ? Are you stating this from personal experience ? I have a friend who uses Slaz V12 or V800 (don't remember the exact model, but it has yellow stickers) G1 willow and its extremely good - balance, pick up and ping is very good.

Its very likely that experienced bat makers are put towards making the top of line products in a brand. For example a Kookaburra Kahuna Players model bats might be made by an experienced bat-maker while the Kahuna 150/200/350 etc might be made by relatively inexperienced bat-makers. However there will be a certain level of bias towards their biggest client. If Kook brings in $100K USD of business but Spartan brings in $250k USD businesss, then its likely FCS might put their better designers on the Spartan project rather than Kook.

[Gurujames]

Does Slaz have a lot of worst performing bats ? Are you stating this from personal experience ?

Yes, they are over pressed planks.
We can all cite exceptions to the rules but generally slazenger are over pressed and perform poorly? They are very well priced though so you could argue good value for money.

[Seniorplayer]

Don't knowif this helps but not all Slazenger bats are made in India some are still made in England.