What Bat Do You Use?

[Ashton Agar]

Went with entire Gray-Nicolls kit when I first started playing cricket in U13s, but ever since then I've been a Kookaburra man. Currently have a Kookaburra Blade that I've had for 3 seasons.

 

[someblokecalleddave]

Hello Ashton good to see you on here. Do you not have your bats custom made for you? With regards bats any 2nd hand good ones I can pick up off of Ebay on the cheap or Kashmir ones that are cheap. I don't have any preferences. Are you sponsored by Kookaburra?

 

[boogiespinner]

I have a Kookaburra Cadejo 1100 coming in the post. Can't wait to get my paws on it!

 

[someblokecalleddave]

I have a Kookaburra Cadejo 1100 coming in the post. Can't wait to get my paws on it!

I've just bought a Slazenger V1200 premier Kashmir bat, just knocking it in now, probably going to put facing tape on it and edge tape, we'll see how it goes, it's got a nice pick up and the meaty bit is fairly low on the bat. He doesn't bat - same as me, so no point in spending shed loads of money on the things. Is your one a good-un?

 

[boogiespinner]

I've just bought a Slazenger V1200 premier Kashmir bat, just knocking it in now, probably going to put facing tape on it and edge tape, we'll see how it goes, it's got a nice pick up and the meaty bit is fairly low on the bat. He doesn't bat - same as me, so no point in spending shed loads of money on the things. Is your one a good-un?

Yes. I found a really good deal online though.

I think it's worth working on a few shots Dave! If you were putting the same thought and practice into batting as legspin you might be superb. Your son is clearly copying you, so you should encourage him! Everybody bats in cricket. I have recently played my first ever half-decent sweep shots and backfoot drives so we can learn new tricks.

 

[someblokecalleddave]

Yes. I found a really good deal online though.

I think it's worth working on a few shots Dave! If you were putting the same thought and practice into batting as legspin you might be superb. Your son is clearly copying you, so you should encourage him! Everybody bats in cricket. I have recently played my first ever half-decent sweep shots and backfoot drives so we can learn new tricks.

Actually I've not mentioned this yet, but the first day of the test I was round a blokes house watching the cricket on SKY live on a big tele with high def (Very nice), but this bloke in his day (he's 65 now and no longer plays) batted a bit and we were talking about batting and I was saying that no matter what I do I can't bat, I did mention that in practice my stance had changed in the last few days and that seemed to have brought about some posistives. We talked about it and I said that I was able to block well, but always fell victim to offies. He said to me to try taking a leg stump guard and to watch the ball right onto the bat. He said that he had a younger brother who was a far better bat than he was and the only discernible difference was that his bro did the watching thing right onto the bat whereas he didn't and tended to react instinctively. I tried this at nets on Wednesday and found it very successful even against my son Joe (10.4-2-15-6) who usually dismisses me with ease. I'm hoping I'll get the same thing going in the match Saturday.

 

[boogiespinner]

I hear you Dave, this is something I've had in mind and worked on a little. I think watching the ball onto the bat has to be absolutely drilled through practice, so that it becomes automatic. Every single ball without exception should be watched onto the bat*. Under pressure situations we revert to practice so it just can't be optional. This also applies to catching, every ball should be watched into the hand.

If you can block ok, then it's just a few more steps to playing a few shots nicely. I recently discovered really what my school coaches meant by talking about the top hand controlling the shot. I extend that to the left elbow. I found that initiating straight drives by driving up the left elbow is absolutely key. In fact in the nets last week I manage to really drive powerfully off the back foot for the first time by driving the left elbow up. Felt great!

I know what it's like to not ball well, the trouble is it can be a cycle because if you then don't bother batting in the nets ever, that ain't going to change! I'm blessed right now to have nets on tap so have been practising batting and definitely noticing improvements.

*um, there are maybe a few exceptions like if you are hooking a ball off your nose

 

[someblokecalleddave]

I hear you Dave, this is something I've had in mind and worked on a little. I think watching the ball onto the bat has to be absolutely drilled through practice, so that it becomes automatic. Every single ball without exception should be watched onto the bat*. Under pressure situations we revert to practice so it just can't be optional. This also applies to catching, every ball should be watched into the hand.

If you can block ok, then it's just a few more steps to playing a few shots nicely. I recently discovered really what my school coaches meant by talking about the top hand controlling the shot. I extend that to the left elbow. I found that initiating straight drives by driving up the left elbow is absolutely key. In fact in the nets last week I manage to really drive powerfully off the back foot for the first time by driving the left elbow up. Felt great!

I know what it's like to not ball well, the trouble is it can be a cycle because if you then don't bother batting in the nets ever, that ain't going to change! I'm blessed right now to have nets on tap so have been practising batting and definitely noticing improvements.

*um, there are maybe a few exceptions like if you are hooking a ball off your nose

Every chance I get I'm in the nets, but it is only 15 minutes and all the best bowlers queue up to massage their ego's, but the last time I was there, I played a lot better than I normally do, seemingly because of the different stance on the leg-stump. Was hoping to give it a go in the 4's where we all get to bat as we always lose, but Joe and I got promoted up to the 3rds and were involved in a winning game and didn't get to bat, very little bowling either with a crap filed set for me as though I was going to be giving away runs down the legside the whole spell, so all in all a crap game.

 

[someblokecalleddave]

We're taking a lot of time and care knocking in, oiling and putting tape on Joes bat here, it only cost us £25, it'll be interesting to see how it lasts with all the care and attention paid to the preparation. Normally with just go and play with them with very little knocking in, but this one we're taking our time with it.

We've now prepared this bat for use having done some research on what to do and also discovered a few things that go wrong when knocking in bats see here http://mpafirsteleven.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/knocking-in-and-preparing-kashmir.html

 

[AngryRanga]

Always buy a Kookaburra. Got marketed to in the mid 2000's with the power hitters like Hayden and Symonds using Gray-Nicolls, while the players I preferred like Hussey, Ponting and Martyn all used Kookaburra's. The brand loyalty stuck.