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[InternalTraining]

So SK fans - is his making the key, or do you just want an Aussie made GN and trust that the other people working there are up to scratch?

Serious answer - you can get an SK made bat. Talk to Mueleman.

[Yorkershire]

My advice to people buying is simple: get a top of the line bat that's beyond your budge once than buying 6-7 bats for next two years that are individually cheaper but collectively cost more than an individually purchased top-of-the-line bat.

Appreciate what you are saying, but what is top of the line? Different companies grade willow differently , some press their bats the same regards of grade..

I think with some of the sponsors and ex board sponsors you don't need to spend top money for a quality bat. You can within a budget get an awesome bat... I'd go down the grade 2 or butterfly route... if I didn't have the money...

[Yorkershire]

PS know hat you mean by no need to buy 6-7 bats... 

[InternalTraining]

Appreciate what you are saying, but what is top of the line? Different companies grade willow differently , some press their bats the same regards of grade..

I think with some of the sponsors and ex board sponsors you don't need to spend top money for a quality bat. You can within a budget get an awesome bat... I'd go down the grade 2 or butterfly route... if I didn't have the money...

This actually is a great question. There is so much confusion and price difference because of lack of standards and stone-age thinking about bats. Consumers have not demanded enough from the vendors. "It is about the feel". "I like grains". Blah blah blah.

Imagine buying an iPhone/Samsung and waiting 6 months because the phone is "acclimatizing" to the bandwidth of the cell towers. Buy a suit and wait three months before wearing it so that fabric "opens up" to your skin and weather conditions? Buy a car because it is getting used to the roads!!? It is EFFING laughable how bat makers get away with their excuses!!

Cricket as a sport will die because in this age of instant gratification, the bats we use are crap! At the club level, people should be allowed to freely use: a. big bats; b. laminates; c: composite material so they can have FUN instead of worrying about bat size or bat opening up like PROs (who actually don't need a bat to open up and clearly lack of size is not an issue for them!).

In absence of common standards and market demand for quality, we have a situation where a bat maker like SK can charge whatever he wants for his bats.

[FattusCattus]

I think this topic should be locked now. People are actually beginning to talk common sense on here about not owning multiple bats, and should clearly be banned!

[WalkingWicket37]

@InternalTraining but you do "break in" all the new things you've listed?

While not leaving a new phone for 6 months, you set up your apps etc so it performs the tasked you want. A new suit will be great, but they are more comfortable after you've worn them a few times and broken in a few of the fibres in the fabric so it's more "moulded" to you.

I think the car analogy works very well. If you bought something new from the showroom you wouldn't drive it off the forecourt with the tachometer bouncing off the red line, would you? Equally if you bought a new top of the range bat you'd prepare it for match use, not take it out of the packet and try to hit the new ball into the next county from ball one.

[InternalTraining]

@InternalTraining but you do "break in" all the new things you've listed?

While not leaving a new phone for 6 months, you set up your apps etc so it performs the tasked you want. A new suit will be great, but they are more comfortable after you've worn them a few times and broken in a few of the fibres in the fabric so it's more "moulded" to you.

HAHAHHAHAA! You must be joking. You wear suits made from cardboard!? I've never had to "break-in" my suits. I can't believe you break-in your suits. I just can't stop laughing.

I think the car analogy works very well. If you bought something new from the showroom you wouldn't drive it off the forecourt with the tachometer bouncing off the red line, would you?

. I'd drive the car immediately as I intend to - places, events, etc. No oiling, no knocking equivalent necessary. What you are describing is a consumer mindset which has hobbled the bat making industry. Maybe, that is how you think about consumer products, not most people I know. I am not being facetious here.

Equally if you bought a new top of the range bat you'd prepare it for match use, not take it out of the packet and try to hit the new ball into the next county from ball one.

Very little. XP-80 2000 got very little knocking from me and it was good to go. My big Warners have edges rolled by a "ostrich bone" by Bob Mueleman himself. Those bats are so big, you'd be insane to knock them. Again, it is your mindset. You are conditioned to accept inferior service and products with poo standards.

[jamesisapayne]

Again, it is your mindset. You are conditioned to accept inferior service and products with poo standards.

Jesus Christ.

Feeling smug up there in your ivory tower are we.

[procricket]

Having a few gn Australian made bats I believe they are extremely special I like a thin Handel and the sheer size of the xxx11 is incredible for the weight 2.8 with 45mm edges and 70mm spine is extremely impressive

i got a bat 45mm edge and 69mm spine yesterday 2/8 and a half with a scuff and toe guard got it from my local sports shop !!! well cricket shop. 150 quid and made i think by some bloke in India...(god want to play).

Not saying GN bats are not nice if i had the dough would i I would 5 years ago and taken it to bed with me and it would have come with me everywhere like a walking stick.

Drying techniques have changed i see in two years even further...

[WalkingWicket37]

@InternalTraining as you've misinterpreted my points and I can't be bothered to explain  what I  actually meant, I'll just say "you're right and I'm wrong."

[coverpoint_pro]

As a pom now living in Aus i've had the majority of bats that this forum has advertised.


I was in Greg Chappell the other day and picked up quite a lot of bats.  The nicest in the hands was a puma for $900.  The second nicest was an aussie made predator for $300.  I used to order so many bats over the internet, and sometimes I still do, but nothing beats going into the shop, picking a few bats up, bouncing a ball and making your decision.  It just so happens that when I do that GN Aus are always in the mix.  A big for me is feel, i used to be obssesed with looks and grains and now i purely base a bat on pick up and sometimes ping.  Handle plays a big part also and the Gray Nics handles have been the best ive used thus far.

$500-600 AUD to GBP is a hell of a lot of money for a bat.  But in Aus, that's relative to Salaries etc, so its probably why most of us out here don't really bat an eyelid.

Would i say they are the best bats I've ever owned? Probably not, that would be my G3 puma.
Would i say they have the best consistency across all the bats I've owned?  Yes, i haven't used one yet and gone this is a plank.


Its all subjective.  All i'd say is if you get chance, try one.  That being said, I'd always say try a Puma/SS, try an RNS.  Try as many as you can and end up like me with 15 bats and a very unhappy misses!



 

[procricket]

Get back to Burnley Max...

[SOULMAN1012]

Appreciate what you are saying, but what is top of the line? Different companies grade willow differently , some press their bats the same regards of grade..

I think with some of the sponsors and ex board sponsors you don't need to spend top money for a quality bat. You can within a budget get an awesome bat... I'd go down the grade 2 or butterfly route... if I didn't have the money...

Personally I don't buy that is deemed to be G1 anymore as in my mind the prices are just silly. I feel I have picked wisely and I have 7 bats that are graded by the makers or companies as G2,G3 or even G4 but all are clean blades, straight grains and perform very well simply by using forum sponsors such as six sixes, Uzi and Vitas. The only G1 I have is my Newbery Pro which was a eBay bargain and at in my opinion a fair price

[Kulli]

Personally I don't buy that is deemed to be G1 anymore as in my mind the prices are just silly. I feel I have picked wisely and I have 7 bats that are graded by the makers or companies as G2,G3 or even G4 but all are clean blades, straight grains and perform very well simply by using forum sponsors such as six sixes, Uzi and Vitas. The only G1 I have is my Newbery Pro which was a eBay bargain and at in my opinion a fair price

It's obviously up to any individual to decide, and there's plenty of stuff where I pay over the odds for makes I like etc but I think it's possible to get top 5% bats for well under 200, especially on here where you can pick up used ones for way under their list value.

[skip1973]

The big bats are the main point of diffence I think, all bat makers are capable of making good bats but if you're some that uses 2.14 plus, no company I am aware of can replicate 50 plus, the Warners and XP 80 models for size, pick and performance. Hell4Leather for me are closest to GN feel, pressing, performance etc.