My Bats - As Asked

[mattw]

So after CD asked, I took a few quick pictures of the bats that I had in my hands before a few of them were sold to my cricket club.

Left to Right:
2'10 BlackCat G1 Joker
2'10 1/2 Pro Powerbow (Steve Davies)
2'10 Talisman Fuji
2'9 (was)Blank SS(now stickered with Mongoose Super Premium)
2'11 Solitaire

 

[Cover Drive]

Matt thanks for this as well!

All of your bats are superb, ever single bat you have there is quality stick!

Few questions if you don't mind me asking, how is your Black Cat? I have Shadow and the ping on that bat is unbelievable so if yours as good as mine then I would say Black Cat bats are real deal!

Ahh man my favourite Gray Nicolls bat shape! lovely shape on that Powerbow! I wish I can get that too!

Wow! Talisman is HUGE! How big are the edges if you don't mind me asking? How do these Talisman bats go?

That SS somewhat resembles like GM Icon.

Solitaire how are the bats? Very cheap and good value bats?

Do you mind if I ask which bats are you going to give to your club?

Sorry for asking too many questions but you have quality sticks mate!

Thanks!!

 

[mattw]

haha cheers, I got a few good deals which is why I have them - I wouldn't been able to have afforded them otherwise.

- My Joker is superb, to be honest the pictures of the profile don't really do it any justice as it really is massive and the majority of it is the 'sweetspot'. It really does come off this bat, you don't have to time it - it just goes! Only used it in nets so far, was going to get it out last night and have a go with it as we were chasing a massive total however my ankle prevented me from batting unfortunately. I haven't tried any other BC bats, however going on this you can tell that they will fly!
- Yeah the Powerbow is superb, only had a quick tap up with it as I haven't used it yet. I was given it from a friend who got it through Steven Davies as they went to school together, sent it off for a refurb and it's come back looking lovely. For the weight, it picks up superbly, probably the best balanced bat of the lot.
- I cant remember exactly how big the edges are of the Talisman, but I think back to when I did a review of it I think they were about 35mm. I've only had a big of a net with the bat and only intend of using it on saturdays to prolong it's life as it really is a superb bat. The sound it makes when you middle it, is lovely! I've had plenty of comments on it and it really does pick up well. If you get a chance to own one, I wouldn't turn it down.
- Yeah I guess the shape of the SS is very Icony, obviously haven't used it yet as it only came yesterday. Had a tap with it and it sounds nice and pings nicely, could do with a bit of knocking in then it'll be ready.
- The Solitaire bats do go! They are worth the money to be honest if you want performance out of them. The customer service is lacking somewhat, as you probably know most people who order from there get a bat back that's above their desired weight. I would assume he makes it to their desired weight without 'dressing' the bats. They are on the heavy side though and the balance of them aren't great, however you've got to think that you're only paying £100. It does fly when you hit it out of the middle, as you can see it's been the bat I've mainly been using over the winter/pre-season.

Well the SS turned up yesterday and as soon as I got it out of the packaging I wanted to keep it, so I decided to sell the Powerbow and the Solitaire to the club. I charged them £70 for both of the bats, which is a steal to be honest - however they're there if I ever fancy using them again, so effectively I only paid £20 for the SS. Our opener used the powerbow last night and fell in love with it, his plenty of 4's & 6's - it still flies considering the age/damage of the bat! Also I know a few people like my Solitaire as most of the people who use the club kit prefer heavier bats so they're in their element with that bat as it flies as well. The main bat at the club before these 2 was a 3'1 Stac bat that had been at the club for years, so they're used to having heavier bats.

 

[momin97]

luvly bats

 

[Cover Drive]

haha cheers, I got a few good deals which is why I have them - I wouldn't been able to have afforded them otherwise.

- My Joker is superb, to be honest the pictures of the profile don't really do it any justice as it really is massive and the majority of it is the 'sweetspot'. It really does come off this bat, you don't have to time it - it just goes! Only used it in nets so far, was going to get it out last night and have a go with it as we were chasing a massive total however my ankle prevented me from batting unfortunately. I haven't tried any other BC bats, however going on this you can tell that they will fly!
- Yeah the Powerbow is superb, only had a quick tap up with it as I haven't used it yet. I was given it from a friend who got it through Steven Davies as they went to school together, sent it off for a refurb and it's come back looking lovely. For the weight, it picks up superbly, probably the best balanced bat of the lot.
- I cant remember exactly how big the edges are of the Talisman, but I think back to when I did a review of it I think they were about 35mm. I've only had a big of a net with the bat and only intend of using it on saturdays to prolong it's life as it really is a superb bat. The sound it makes when you middle it, is lovely! I've had plenty of comments on it and it really does pick up well. If you get a chance to own one, I wouldn't turn it down.
- Yeah I guess the shape of the SS is very Icony, obviously haven't used it yet as it only came yesterday. Had a tap with it and it sounds nice and pings nicely, could do with a bit of knocking in then it'll be ready.
- The Solitaire bats do go! They are worth the money to be honest if you want performance out of them. The customer service is lacking somewhat, as you probably know most people who order from there get a bat back that's above their desired weight. I would assume he makes it to their desired weight without 'dressing' the bats. They are on the heavy side though and the balance of them aren't great, however you've got to think that you're only paying £100. It does fly when you hit it out of the middle, as you can see it's been the bat I've mainly been using over the winter/pre-season.

Well the SS turned up yesterday and as soon as I got it out of the packaging I wanted to keep it, so I decided to sell the Powerbow and the Solitaire to the club. I charged them £70 for both of the bats, which is a steal to be honest - however they're there if I ever fancy using them again, so effectively I only paid £20 for the SS. Our opener used the powerbow last night and fell in love with it, his plenty of 4's & 6's - it still flies considering the age/damage of the bat! Also I know a few people like my Solitaire as most of the people who use the club kit prefer heavier bats so they're in their element with that bat as it flies as well. The main bat at the club before these 2 was a 3'1 Stac bat that had been at the club for years, so they're used to having heavier bats.

Excellent post I would say, thanks for this mate!

The Joker no doubt is a huge bat and I really rate Black Cat very high because of the performance. I have used GM, GN, Lavers, M&H, Salix, Newbery etc and among all of these the best ping on new bat is of BC whereas Salix and Newbery aren't very far either.

I really like the shape of that Powerbow, I agree with you Powerbow is the best balanced bat and the pickup on that bat is amazing as well!

Wow, 35mm is huge! From the pictures it looks that Talisman have sweetspot distributed throughout the blade which make the bat special too!!

For some reason I don't like SS bats and there profile most of the SS I have seen didn't look nice but the profile of this is different to what I have seen here.

Was interested in buying Solitaire a while ago but then didn't buy them because I heard Rogers is ending up making heavy bats and personally I couldn't afford a heavy bat being in Canada because I would have to send it back and redelivered which would have costed me a lot.

For £20 SS looks very good, in fact, the stickers might only be worth of £20 itself L

Did you say your club had Screaming Cat in past?

 

[mattw]

Yeah I know what you mean, I just went and bought the solitaire because I thought it was too good to be true, a brand new G1 bat at £100 and it's only a 20min drive from where I live I thought I'd go and give them some custom. However since purchasing the bat I realise you get what you pay for, it wasn't the best finished bat in the world, it was over the weight I asked for - however it does go! and that's what I'm mainly bothered about. As the club I play for on a week night is mainly a 20/20 format then this is the kind of thing that people like to use - heavy responsive bats.

Ah, no not a Screaming Cat - a STAC, I don't think they're around anymore but I think they used to be quite a big company around my area in the UK. They offered very nice bats at reasonable prices, but I'm not sure what happened to them. I'll try and get a picture of the STAC next week and show you what I mean, it's got a very unusal profile shape with a couple of scoops taken out of the back of it. Not sure how old it is either to be honest, but I think it got donated by one of our old team mates.

 

[Waleedk11]

Your SS has the nicest shape, and yeah it does look very much like a Icon.

 

[Cover Drive]

Ah okay, for 20/20 I reckon your Joker would be best but you might not want your team mates to use your bat.

Ah okay thanks for the picture in advance

 

[mattw]

Well I got the Joker 2nd(maybe 3rd I don't know) through the cb forum for about £100 which for what it is I thought it was a very good price. When I got it, I couldn't believe how good it actually was and pleasantly surprised that it isn't that 'abnormal' compared to a normal bat size(as you can see).

So throught that I'm not obsessed by it, I am about the Talisman as it's my most expensive bat so I don't want people to use it - not that it'll use the runs up or anything, just the fact that if they break it(which it could happen whenever) then I would be seriously annoyed and may ask for the money etc...(Which is why I don't want people to use it, just to be sure etc..)

So I want people to use it, have a go with it, experience something different. Considering how meaty it is I'm not expecting it to just fall apart. The people that have used it have been amazed by it, I'm just a little afraid to use it in a game due to it not being a 'proper bat', but once I get over that and use it for at least one innings it'll all be fine and I'm sure it'll send many of balls way past the ropes.

 

[Cover Drive]

That Joker is Grade 1 right? Perfect Timer from this forum also has Joker and his is beauty too!

I'm always believer of the fact that initial products are always good and better as the maker is making his name at that time than just the bats.

When a bat is to break it doesn't matter how thick it is, it will break. I have seen bats breaking from un-usual places lol.

Today I was using my GN which is very meaty and while playing with it I observed that for 'big' bats you need to be used to them. When I first held a thin bat compare to this big.thick bat the thin bat felt much better, I hope you understand what I'm trying to say here.

 

[Silencer]

Wow, nice bats!

How thick edges does Joker have?

Isn't that Talisman bat similar to Tendulkar's profile?

 

[mattw]

Yeah the Joker is G1, the edges of it are just over 40mm at its biggest point.

Yeah CD I know what you mean, I still feel my old G2/3 Kahuna has the best pickup out of my bats and it's tiny compared to these bats here which I haven't pictured due to it being a mess. Still picks up very nice though, it's just dead - use it for fun cricket down the field and stuff.

 

[ExtraCoverDrive]

wow!! those are some exotic bats you have there.
love the look on the SS. AMazing grains on them. Going by the look on the Solitaire, you beat the crap out of the balls with the stick.

 

[Cover Drive]

Yeah CD I know what you mean, I still feel my old G2/3 Kahuna has the best pickup out of my bats and it's tiny compared to these bats here which I haven't pictured due to it being a mess. Still picks up very nice though, it's just dead - use it for fun cricket down the field and stuff.

Exactly when I pick up like my Salix, although that bat is heavier than my
big' GN bats it has a great pickup and feels much better.

 

[mattw]

wow!! those are some exotic bats you have there.
love the look on the SS. AMazing grains on them. Going by the look on the Solitaire, you beat the crap out of the balls with the stick.

I'm not sure why it has so many ball marks on it though to be honest, I think it may be the balls that i use as they don't seem to have deteriorated as normal balls do, so I think it's got something to do with the lacquer on it.

 

[Cover Drive]

Some scuff sheets get more ball marks compare to others too!