I really need to stop looking at eBay.....
The eBay addicts will have seen this advert a couple of weeks back which was also tagged in the forum eBay thread.
The description and particularly the weight (1.5kg!) raised some concerns but I did a little checking on Bradbury range weights/sizes, and I also researched the Pro who may have used this bat. This gave me enough reassurance to take a calculated risk and make an offer on it.
Anyway the bat arrived yesterday and on opening it I had the nice, but not totally unexpected, surprise that the eBay description was a little off. The specs on receipt were:
🔹 Standard SH (although I wouldn't have minded if it was LH)
🔹 Weight with grip, grip-grip, scuff and sponsor sticker - 2lb 10 1/4 oz
🔹 Edge is 34mm, Spine around 60mm with a little concaving.
I know there have been a lot of fake Bradburys on the market in the past, but this one has the edge stamps and looks the real deal.
On to the question of whether this was a Pro's bat........ The seller told me that it was one of a number of Bradburys used by Gareth Rees at Glamorgan in 2013. I got in touch with him through Twitter and he confirmed the following
The weights match when you take into account the grip-grip and extra sticker. Also when I removed the grip I found the initials GR written in sharpie on the handle so as we all know that definitely proves it was a Pro's bat 😉
It taps up nicely and the pick up feels light and well balanced.
The scuff was damaged and there was some tape on the toe so I took these off to get a good look at the condition. It has a pretty clean face with 8 straight grains, there is some feathering and one crack to the toe. I plan to fit a new grip, glue the crack, tidy up the toe and sand the face ready for nets in the new year - will post more piccies once this is done.
It would be great to get hold of a new set of Bradbury stickers over the next few months so I can give it a full refurb.
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Topic: Bradbury - exPro bat? (Read 5808 times)