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[ElPerro]

Have Spartan ever really been "relevant"? They've thrown a lot of money at sponsoring big names, but have you ever seen anyone use one at club level?
I think I've seen 4 genuine ones (and one horrendous fake) in the last few seasons, and not once did I think 'that bat looks awesome"

That's a very good point, hadn't really thought about it like that but thinking back I can only recall one being used in the past couple of seasons

They make for interesting discussion points when seen on TV like Russell's, Gayle's and KP's but it's hard to break into the long hold that brands like Kookaburra and Gray Nics have.

Fair play to them for doing something different though, if there's an arena for this kind of thing then T20 is certainly it

[billyb]

That's exactly my point. Perhaps they are popular in Aussie, but I've only ever seen fakes used down here in Cornwall- and even then only one or two.

[GDP1964]

With the amount of money spent on players I would think they would have to out sell GN GM and Kookabura 3 times over just to break even . Their UK representative has since moved across to SF so not too sure who is running their affairs here now

[Biggie Smalls]

I'm at a club in inner city sydney.  A number of subcontinental players , maybe 6-8 , have Spartans. They all look rather uninspiring and pick up like bottom heavy dog-of-a-bats . I think Spartan knows if they stay off the radar for much longer ( ie Burns , the only oz test player using Spartan , wasn't hugely popular and recently was dropped anyway ) they may become a permanently forgotten brand . Would be no real loss.....plenty of better bats made by the same manufacturer still available with different brand stickers .

[FattusCattus]

So - either supply really good bats at realistic prices, or sponsor someone popular!

[Six Sixes Cricket]

At our club Quite a few of the juniors have spartans, plus I've seen a few of the Gayle bats

[sanredrose]

SPARTAN is irrelevant. For a company who sponsors such big names, i would expect them to roll out products consistently by introduce new profiles/models or at the very least refresh the stickers. Looking at the last few years .. Spartan MC range has no successor, JB range is limited to Australia/NZ, Eoin Morgan range - haven't seen a single Steel 116 or LE model of this bat till now, no product refresh for MSD/SVR/MJ/MP range either. Only consistent item has been the Chris Gayle edition. I don't see any noticeable updates in that bat other than it being gold colored.

Spartan bats and softs are almost impossible to find in USA. Few of my team members decided to reach out to talent cricket & cricket direct to source them. Cricket Direct didn't respond to our query however talentcricket accepted our order initially. After a week they cancelled the order and issued a full refund. Spoke to the store manager at TC and he confirmed that the Spartan rep is not reachable and they have no idea if they will stock Spartan gear or not.

Ridiculous pricing by spartan's authorized US dealer ...

Bats ...
Spartan Diamond - USD 1100 => Heights of ridiculousness ! GN Legend is much cheaper than this !!
Spartan MC LE - USD 600  (Grade 1+ willow)
Spartan MC 1000 - USD 500 (Grade 1)
Spartan MC 2000 - USD 350 (Grade 2)
Spartan MC 3000 - USD 250 (Grade 3)
Spartan MC 4000 - USD 200 (Grade 4 - I am not even sure if this is a grade but this is what Spartan claims)
Spartan MC 5000 - USD 160 (Grade 5 - Won't bother explaining ...  )

Gloves
Spartan MP 1000 - USD 125
Spartan MP 2000 - USD 85

I can easily secure a GM original bat from another US retailer for 350 USD, GM 808 for 250 USD and GM 606 for 180 USD respectively. By all means these bats are of better quality and much better priced than Spartan. I will give Spartan one thing though ... their stickers for spartan mc le is very well designed. Color combination and logo design is excellent. Well the bat is good considering that its SS made, but other than that Spartan is just nothing ...

I got a Spartan MC LE from @Chad. I have been trying to find one more after that and its been quite a challenge. Hence the rant .... 

[northernboy1987]

Have Spartan ever really been "relevant"? They've thrown a lot of money at sponsoring big names, but have you ever seen anyone use one at club level?
I think I've seen 4 genuine ones (and one horrendous fake) in the last few seasons, and not once did I think 'that bat looks awesome"

Lad at our club has one of the Gayle ones, it's a pretty decent bat to be fair with a surprisingly full profile.

[Churchy1989]

They may be decent looking, but its a brand....(I dot know/heard of a bat maker at Spartan).

I still don't understand how / why people buy brands that are not hand made UK from a bat maker.

If people did some research I doing they would buy the big sponsored ones,NB and Spartan included

[Number4]

They may be decent looking, but its a brand....(I dot know/heard of a bat maker at Spartan).

I still don't understand how / why people buy brands that are not hand made UK from a bat maker.

If people did some research I doing they would buy the big sponsored ones,NB and Spartan included

Spartan Batmaker Australian Reg Taylor. Why UK hand made? There are extremely good batmakers outside of the UK.. Julian Millichamp, James Laver, Lauchlan Fisher, Marty Graham, Reg Taylor, Ian Callan, Paul Bradbury.. I'm sure guys on here could rattle many more off....

[GDP1964]

No doubt there are very good batmakers Worldwide the names you mentioned speak for themselves  and there are many more most cricketers here in the U.K do have bats made by English  Batmakers they just don't know it . TK  for example probably makes finished bats for probably 20 diffrent Brands including the B&S GP274  and then supplies who knows how many more in part mades which are sold here in the U.K and then you  have Hunts ,Aldred ,Chase ,  Kippax GM ,GN , B3 the list goes on and on my point is just because it's English Willow does not mean it has to be made by an English Batmakers to be any good

[skip1973]

They may be decent looking, but its a brand....(I dot know/heard of a bat maker at Spartan).

I still don't understand how / why people buy brands that are not hand made UK from a bat maker.

If people did some research I doing they would buy the big sponsored ones,NB and Spartan included

I'd wager if you did some research, English "Hand Made" bats would make up a very small part of the world cricket market.

[GDP1964]

World Cricket without a doubt not so in the U.K.

[Number4]

Spartan Batmaker Australian Reg Taylor. Why UK hand made? There are extremely good batmakers outside of the UK.. Julian Millichamp, James Laver, Lauchlan Fisher, Marty Graham, Reg Taylor, Ian Callan, Paul Bradbury.. I'm sure guys on here could rattle many more off....

Sorry missed one of the best.. Kranzbuhler

[skip1973]

World Cricket without a doubt not so in the U.K.

It can depend on the area I know but I think it would be much closer than you might think comparing the amount of say GN, Kooka, NB, Slaz and Ton compared to players using strictly UK hand made ( hand made is another argument all together ) A UK retailer would have more idea than me I guess.