What's new

Calling all GM Experts..

T

thegreenmachine

Debutant
Joined
Dec 29, 2010
Runs
110
i am thinking seriously about getting a GM Icon. i've heard great reviews about it, but have the following concerns:

1. i play in the US where most of the pitches are low bounce pitches.. the icon has a high sweet spot. so will that be a bad choice then?
2. the high sweet spot, combined with the general design gives the bat a light pickup. i've heard GM Icons pick up lighter than MBs.. so does that mean i should get a slightly heavier bat? i've been using an MB LE that weighs around 2lb 10oz. sometimes it does feel a tad too heavy for me but i'm thinking that i should pick a 2lb 10 GM Icon, because in theory, it should feel lighter than my MB. is that the correct thought process, or should I just go with a lighter weight and be "safe"?
 
Hmm personally I would recommend you to go with a lighter bat.

The MB LE probably feels heavy at times because it isn't a 2.10 bat I would assume and pickup might not be very good.

After playing cricket and the conclusion I have come to is that this high sweetspot, low sweetspot etc is all non-sense to be honest.

ExtraCoverDrive Bhai [On PP] opens the batting and uses Krakatoa which is low sweetspot bat and over the past year I have said that low sweetspot bats aren't good for openers because new ball is hard, bounces more so you need a higher middle shot but to be honest that is utter non-sense after I have seen and played with these bats.

Australia is known for high bounce pitches and if you see Mohammad Yousuf's last tour to Australia you will see he used Gray Nicolls Powerbow which has low sweetspot.

So I would say don't go with sweetspot location and pitches bounce anymore because that doesn't really matter. The main thing is to middle the ball and if you're able to do that then you're all set!

As far weight is concerned I would say that a 2.10 of Icon will feel much lighter than 2.10 MB LE because Icon has higher sweetspot, hence, better/lighter pickup.

Personally I would recommend you going for GM + which would be thick despite being a light bat like Adil Bhai's.

Let me know if you have anymore question(s)
 
thanks a lot for the super quick reply. at the moment i'm tempted to go for a 2lb 8, light bat, because i already have a very meaty bat with a large sweet spot (MB LE) in the kit bag.. so worst case, i can always go back to using that for slogging situations.
 
thegreenmachine said:
thanks a lot for the super quick reply. at the moment i'm tempted to go for a 2lb 8, light bat, because i already have a very meaty bat with a large sweet spot (MB LE) in the kit bag.. so worst case, i can always go back to using that for slogging situations.
Click to expand...

No worries bro :)

Yes, plus heavier bats would be good for slogging, my MB LE comes upto 2.14ish with 2 grips, edge/toe tape, full face scuff sheet etc and I have kept it for slogging as I am too scared to use my Icon to slog.
 
yaar its supposed to be used to whack the sh*t out of the ball!! why spend all that money only to forgoe that joy?? what weight do you have and how does it compare to other bats of similar weight (in terms of pickup and ping)?
 
I agree, but then my Icon is not fully knocjked so against new hard balls it can damage so once it is fully knocked then it will be my match bat.

It is around 2.8 and the pickup of Icon is best compare to all other bats in that weight range
 
1438.jpg


thinking very seriously about this one.. its 2lb 8 oz
 
Looks superb to be honest.

I would say it is probably the best Icon after cricketer13 bhai's Icon, this is amazing as well!

We were told by Micheal that this bat has amazing ping, pickup and everything.

So I am sure you will love it!

By the way, the pictures of these bats are not good way to judge seriously the bat look much better in person than those pictures
 
Cover Drive said:
Looks superb to be honest.

I would say it is probably the best Icon after cricketer13 bhai's Icon, this is amazing as well!

We were told by Micheal that this bat has amazing ping, pickup and everything.

So I am sure you will love it!

By the way, the pictures of these bats are not good way to judge seriously the bat look much better in person than those pictures
Click to expand...

he said that about the bat i just ordered?
 
This bat's from their special selection, I'd be disappointed/surprised if it wasn't a belter.
 
Last edited:
Cover Drive said:
I agree, but then my Icon is not fully knocjked so against new hard balls it can damage so once it is fully knocked then it will be my match bat.
Click to expand...

CD Bhai, just wondering, how long have you spent knocking your GM Icon? I recall you getting this a while back (like a few months ago). Does it still feel under-prepared? My understanding was that these "GM now" bats are almost ready to use and that you just need a little bit of knocking in.. no?
 
CD's got liek a billion bats, there's not a man alive with enough time to prepare them all.
 
LOL :))) Mind nahi kiya was traveling so had to access to PP.

TGM, yaar to be honest my bats are not kncoked in properly, I knock for like 5 minutes and think its fully knocked and would act all big that I have knocked bat lol.

As James Laver said in his interview to PP you can overknock the bat too, so I would say that knock the toe and edges for 45 minutes maybe.

Heck Sami I don't even have a mallet now :pissed:
 
They are not even knocked, I doubt it.

When I knocked my Icon it got dents which means it is not knocked it, if you even out all the dents then its knocked it :)
 
the one i just got in the mail (same one as the pics above) seems to be fairly well knocked in. very hard to create a dent.. so i'm going to spend a bit of time on the toe and edges (and not worry about the face) before taking it in the nets..

i'm also thinking of using a bowling machine to help speed up the "playing in" process, but not sure whether those machine balls can damage the bat.. any views/experience on that?
 
The anonymous county player in The Cricketer uses time against a bowling machine to play his bats in.
 
Cover Drive said:
They are not even knocked, I doubt it.

When I knocked my Icon it got dents which means it is not knocked it, if you even out all the dents then its knocked it :)
Click to expand...

How hard do u knock in ur bats? do you use extra heavy mallets to put dents?
I've knocked so many bats but never really put dents in any bats.
 
thegreenmachine said:
the one i just got in the mail (same one as the pics above) seems to be fairly well knocked in. very hard to create a dent.. so i'm going to spend a bit of time on the toe and edges (and not worry about the face) before taking it in the nets..

i'm also thinking of using a bowling machine to help speed up the "playing in" process, but not sure whether those machine balls can damage the bat.. any views/experience on that?
Click to expand...


I have 2 GM icon+ 808 bats. I knocked both bats for abt a week 10-15 mins everyday on toe and edges. Try n round of edges slightly. I then used the bats against few overs of throw downs and twice in indoor 10 mins net sessions. After this the bat was match ready. You dont need to use it against bowling machine.
 
Knightrider said:
How hard do u knock in ur bats? do you use extra heavy mallets to put dents?
I've knocked so many bats but never really put dents in any bats.
Click to expand...

Sounds like he's hitting a bit too hard, you're meant to start softly and the increase the force gradually.
 
I don't bang the mallet from the beginning instead I gradually increase the force.

I remember when I got my Lavers and I had bowling machine nets right away and it is was dented throughout the face.

I don't have a mallet anymore but the one I had was not extra heavy or anything like that, instead it was normal mallet.
 
when i started working on the edges of my GM, i noticed that the anti scuff sheet started crumpling up a bit, and in one place even tore a bit.. similar experience for you GM pros?
 
Knightrider said:
I've knocked so many bats but never really put dents in any bats.
Click to expand...

there seems to be a bit of confusion.

the dents are not dents per se.

Sometimes you cant see those just looking at the bat's face - u can see those only at an angle.... hope I am making sense.
 
Last edited:
Did you round off the edges ? I didn't do that on my GM but did on my first Gray Nicolls I it happened.

Even antiscuff sheet on edge of my Icon tore
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Rana
Is it time for Mohammad Haris to depart from Peshawar Zalmi?
2
Replies
104
Views
1K
topspin
topspin
The Bald Eagle
"Hopefully we see kind of a lot more of that Babar Azam, rather than the one that feels that he has to be contributing all the time": Gary Kirsten
2
Replies
107
Views
2K
Usman Chadda
U
B
“Pakistan’s game against India is like our Super Bowl”: Shahid Afridi
Replies
26
Views
825
JaDed
JaDed
D
Was 28th January 2024 the best day in the history of cricket?
Replies
18
Views
775
James
James
B
"Pakistan had more support from the crowd and I thought it will backfire on them": Monank Patel (USA Captain)
Replies
10
Views
518
MenInG
MenInG
Back
Top