Thought he had them made at Kippax, and that’s why his GM deal ended? I doubt NB care who makes them as long as they’ve got the stickers on.
I would have thought it had more to do with money than that. Current ones are Sondhi from what I've been told, seems to have the same handle problems that Smith has
Interesting- I thought FCS makes really good, oval handles?
I repaired 2 for him before the OT test started/got cancelled , I can't say if they were made for him, but what I can say is that they were Keeley made, poorly rehandled (again by Keeley) and very average size and quality.I've repaired a few for Rooty over the years when working at the test matches with the GN Roadshow and his Indian made LH/SB bats were far better than these (although they were always far too heavy)
Interesting! When you say they were far too heavy, do you mean set against what he wanted/usually used, or vs what you would have made for him if he had asked for something that suits him in your opinion?