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[six and out]

Hi all,

I think I am right in saying that the AOC Cricket Gear Test 2017 was yesterday?

Any news? Who sent bats? Etc....

[alexhilly1492]

Testers were rob key Jim troughton graham thorpe and graham Napier

[Tailendfielder]

Do the testers get to keep the bats?

[Jaffa]

Do the testers get to keep the bats?

I think they are returned to the suppliers. I have one from the 2015 tests as my match bat which is fantastic. On the other hand I have no excuse.

[wasted_talent]

yeah they are returned to the suppliers in the main.
would be keen to hear what brands were tested?
any Asian brands?

[Kulli]

I noticed there was a bat claimed to have been used in last year's test on ebay, but it still had the edge stamps... anyone know if they make any effort to cover these?

Looks likes there's some meaty ol' bats in the test!

i would presume they ask for them to be supplied without, they seem to get stricter each year on these sort of things.

[HallamKeeper]

AOC ran a competition to join the gear test, the winner got to test bats and keep their favourite I think. I entered but, alas, no invitation.

[The Cricket Boutique]

I am aware of a few companies that have sent bats in for testing however I am sworn to secrecy at the moment. 

[Seniorplayer]

A bat maker told me he once sent 2 bats to one of these gear tests exactly the same willow quality pickup weight etc one  bat the testers rated highly the other one not at all. Strange that.

[Kulli]

A bat maker told me he once sent 2 bats to one of these gear tests exactly the same willow quality pickup weight etc one  bat the testers rated highly the other one not at all. Strange that.

Not really, wood is a natural product, and despite what any of them say I'm sure 99% of grading is done on looks.

[Neon Cricket]

A bat maker told me he once sent 2 bats to one of these gear tests exactly the same willow quality pickup weight etc one  bat the testers rated highly the other one not at all. Strange that.

Exactly the same reason I stopped bothering with the AOC test - a very well known brand did the exact same and had the same outcome (both bats virtually identical in weight, grain structure, density and shape).

Personally I've always been a bit dubious of the AOC test, you can generally tell the bat maker regardless of the bat being blank (we all prove that!). Especially when certain brands which advertise heavily in AOC appear to consistently do rather well... (albeit that was a few years back, and I've rarely bought a copy since).

[springbok45]

I noticed there was a bat claimed to have been used in last year's test on ebay, but it still had the edge stamps... anyone know if they make any effort to cover these?

Looks likes there's some meaty ol' bats in the test!

That was on Affinitys Instagram, one of Marcus's possibly

[Kulli]

Minus 10 points for all those who have used black tape with a white grip?

[Neon Cricket]

Minus 10 points for all those who have used black tape with a white grip?

AOC re-grip them if they're sent without a plain white grip - blame AOC! haha

[smilley792]

Minus 10 points for all those who have used black tape with a white grip?

Not sure it's tape, looks to be under the grip, so I'd assume grip grip at the bottom to hold the handles in place.