C'mon lads... 😂 Someone else here definitely got something cricket bat related... Don't make me feel bad... In all honesty, these were bought at different times of the year, but all happened to arrive over the last couple of weeks. (Luckily retailers and batmakers are kind enough and take me seriously enough to keep stock I've bought aside until a more convenient delivery date)
Far left is a Mana Signature obtained via eBay - nice enough bat - but I won't go much into detail on it!
Next are 2 ACID bats direct from Salix themselves. (One Fluoro G1 and a Nitric Pro) They will get a separate review! (Really excellent bats)
Next 2 area Keeley Pro Camel from Keeley direct, and a GM Broad Players from Talent Cricket. The Camel surprised me - I didn't expect it to be that chunky from images I was sent - I was just told it had my name written on it, and as always, the Keeleys don't miss!
Next up, 2 beautiful grainy Aion Signature/606 and a Powerpot 3 Star from Talent Cricket. The Powerspot packs a real pingy punch, beautifully clean blade and only 5 wide grains.
Powerspot vs Aion
Aion vs Players
And last but not least, 2 beautifully grainy 404s with some butterfly - an Aion and Mana from our own SixSixes Cricket
It does seem like full profiles are becoming more popular with people wanting no (perceived) compromise in volume in the blades. That being said, I think pretty much all Aions I've seen have been 106 or below in terms of width, and perhaps due to how thin it gets up to the shoulder, they do seem to be a touch narrower up there. They do feel very much like an 'answer' to the demand for the Indian styled SS bats with large volume alongside the Brava, with the flat faces being implemented. (Incidentally, most of the Bravas I saw were also around the 105-106mm width mark) The Manas were all 107-108mm, some being close to 109mm. (Yes, I'm sad enough to bring a gauge, calipers and scales with me when visiting a cricket shop!) The Powerspot itself is around 106mm - as were most GN bats I saw. (Around 105-107mm)
With regards to width - I think the compromise has to be made in order to allow for larger perceived volume at manageable weights if that's where the market wants to go. Consumers can just get things in their head that they want/need, and won't be told otherwise - in the end there needs to be some give/take. This being said, my biggest concern with the bats I've seen hasn't been weights or widths, but actually in handle shaping - some of it has honestly been shocking. I've picked up GNs where the handles really haven't been right, and GMs where the handles have felt bumpy. And no, this isn't due to the grips, this is actual lack of finishing of the handles with proper rasping. At the end of the day, if you're gonna narrow, fine, let retailers know at the very least, but it's not the end of the world. If you're gonna thin out handles a bit - fine. But don't skimp out on allowing for more time to have a comfortable fitting handle. Reshaping a handle isn't really something a customer can do too readily - they can adjust thickness, but correcting the actual shape? I guess it's the nature of something being mass produced, with this vital step being one that has to be performed by a human.
Anyways, rant over - I guess I'll go into more detail in actual reviews when I get a chance. Didn't have time to do a 12 days this year, but eh - plenty of reviewers out there.
Hope you all had a lovely Christmas, and here's to the New Year!
If there's any interest, I guess I might start doing video reviews. Not that I have any shortage of bats to actually review, but really, I guess visual and audio presentation speaks more to certain folks than words typed out.
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Topic: Happy Xmas (Read 3424 times)