Cracks / Damage while knocking

[Jeel]

Dear Friends,

I recently bought a CA Plus 10000 cricket bat here in UK for the new season.

I am new to CA, though i have used SS Ton and BAS for the last 10 years.

I started to knock the CA bat and surprisingly i see a strange crack appearing just beneath the face of the bat.

Knocking was done just using the Mallet only. Haven't seen a ball yet :-(

I have attached pictures below for expert comment.

Please provide your thoughts on what the cause could be ?

Moreover, i also did note a couple of threads on various forums that, there are a lot of Fake CA bats going around.

All help and advice on this matter highly appreciated.

Waiting eagerly for your help.

 

[Jeel]

The Crack is such that, the face of the bat is getting separated from the rest of the wood. That line of crack runs all the way up from Splice area (main sticker) to the toe of the bat on the leading edge side.

Moreover, the wood fibre coming out from the bat, as you would see. From the face to edge intersection point is quite strange as well.
Have never seen such a thing happening earlier.

Expert comments please.

 

[GrandMaster]

That is definitely not a good sign for brand new bat, it's a fake product. Where did you get this bat from ? If bought from local store, I would advise you to get it replaced.

 

[QasimAli]

I cant tell how bad the crack is ( because of the fiber tape) but if you are getting slight cracks while knocking in the bat its pretty standard for bats as they are mostly soft pressed if its just a small line need not worry but if the crack starts going through the bat then you should be worried... I think you could be hitting the mallet too hard its something that allot of bat knocking in advice get wrong is they encourage you to hit the mallet hard but it can cause minor cracks happened to my friend and his bubber sher and same with my ca bat because of soft pressing

 

[Jeel]

@ QasimAli

Bhai, i had just about 2 hours of knocking and that too soft - medium knocks. As i always start with very soft knocks and then slowly proceed to medium and then slightly a bit harder.
But, it never went that far.

Just upgrading from soft to medium itself has caused this.

I do pretty much understand and have come across cracks over the grain during heavy knocking in in my earlier SS ton bats. However, the nature of the cracks that come are quite different, you know what i mean, Typically in India if we see such a crack through the grains, we call it a well "Seasoned" bat.

Moreover, there is no lamination, nor have i put any face protectors yet. My plan was to get it knocked first, till the stage, where it can be used for catch practice and throw down and at that stage to apply the face protector and edge stickers.

@ GrandMaster

Thanks for your comments mate. Even i think so, as i have never seen such wood fibre coming out of bat even on much cheaper bats.
I am planning to take the Bat to the seller and will update on the situation.

Since this is my first CA Bat, infact any other bat apart from BAS and SS, was quite looking forward to comments if its original even.

 

[GrandMaster]

Original CA bats are not bad at all, but quite frank to be 8/10 CA bats sold on websites are fake. If someone selling these bats for under price, it has to be fake. See if you can get a replacement for this, make sure you get the original bat this time. I would advise you to get the refund and buy it directly from CA (you can email them).

You will get good mid range bats in SS and BAS (SS LE/KP or BAS Blaster).

 

[Jeel]

Original CA bats are not bad at all, but quite frank to be 8/10 CA bats sold on websites are fake. If someone selling these bats for under price, it has to be fake. See if you can get a replacement for this, make sure you get the original bat this time. I would advise you to get the refund and buy it directly from CA (you can email them).

You will get good mid range bats in SS and BAS (SS LE/KP or BAS Blaster).

Is there any checklist or main things to check / verify to ensure the bat is authentic ?
Well. what i mean is :- Specific points to Check Mandatorily like:
1. X piece handle
2. min num of grains
3. Sticker is placed at xx cm / mm from the toe, shoulder
4. The legibility of sticker

Something of that sort ? If so, will be of great help, if you could share them.
by which i can be sure i don't get faked for the second time, if at all

 

[GrandMaster]

1. All latest CA bat comes with 12 digit unique code (beneath plastic coating, which need to be scratched)
2. Minimum of 7 grains
3. Check the chrome stickers (front and back), should be professionally applied
4. CA on the edge should be clean embossed without any blemishes or marks
5. CA 10000 comes with Octopus grip (with CA embossed on the top)
6. Check the Toeguard - nice clean print reading "Plus 10000" right in the centre.

 

[Jeel]

Thanks Mate.

I have left my bat back at the sellers place. The individual was not available physically to discuss on it.

He would inspect and get back is what he has said. Hopefully, i will get a replacement and will check for the authenticity of the bat i get.

Thanks a Ton for all the useful pointers.

 

[Jeel]

@ Qasim & @ Grandmaster

I finally got my replacement.
This time payed a bit more extra and opted for 12000.
It did come with the CA authentication sticker, however i did make sure to verify the checklist provided in the earlier post.

This one is 2.8 Lbs and still picks up very light.

Thanks for all the pointers.

Cheers

 

[zaid133]

nice! pics?

 

[GrandMaster]

Did you enter that 12 digit code on CA website to confirm the authenticity? If not, you better do that. Btw congratulations for your new bat

 

[Jeel]

Yes
I have checked and registered the Bat as well on their website against my name.

However, the CA software is a bit flakey. Upon registering mine, it brought up the date of registration as DATE 13-MAY-03 / 0840.

Guess their calendar and time counter seems to be not in right place

 

[QasimAli]

Congtats ! Hope you score monster runs with 12k