My Woodworm hard drive black label cricket bat. Keep it or return it?

[ad2000]

Hello Friends,

I was considering purchasing a cricket bat and was confused between woodworm cricket bat and SM cricket bat (http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/showthread.php?t=133213).

After a lot of consideration and helpful insight from fellow pp members i decided to go with SM bat. However the website i was dealing with gave me a additional 10% off, an offer which i could not decline (Also the guys at SM were not that prompt in answering my emails, so i went with woodworm.


Cutting the long story short, i received my bat in the mail today. It is a 2.8 SH bat and is top of range woodworm. the pickup is good to and it pings better than my SS ton LE. I haven't opened the plastic packing and not knocked/oiled it still sounds better than my SS. *both the bats cost me approx the same price including shipping*

The only problem i have with it the presence of heartwood. it has abt 30% heard wood on the inside edge and i have heard different stories abt its presence and effect on bats durability. The website i dealt with allows me to return the purchase if i am not satisfied with the product.

What should i do? Keep it or return it? i i explained above my only concern is its heartwood. What do you guys think???

 

[ad2000]

Also sorry about the image sizes. i am kindda new to this forumn and still havent figured out how to resize them

 

[Cricketismylife]

what was the final price of the Woodworm in the end?

grains and heartwood is a bit overrated IMHO.

The SS LE looks amazing!

 

[ad2000]

I got it for £155. They sell it for £199. Yea the ton is amazing. i just think its not fully opened up yet

 

[Bullet Drive]

I got it for £155. They sell it for £199. Yea the ton is amazing. i just think its not fully opened up yet

SS TON looks amazing, how much you get that for + I say you should give it back. Heartwood also makes it look really ugly.

 

[ad2000]

I got the ton for £130 plus postage from india. the ton le is not the top of range model from ss. Ss gladiator costs above £300. so the idea of getting a 'premium range' bat for half the price of its competators got me in

 

[Cricketismylife]

Dont fall for the marketing hype.

there are only 4 grades of willow. with Grade 1 being the best

LE is selected Grade 1 so better looking out of even grade 1.

Gladiator is "selected" from "selected"...... so you see my point - not much difference. Absolutely not over 200 POUND difference.

 

[ad2000]

Oh, ok. Thanks for clarifying this. Its hard to know about the right grading due to all these marketing gimmicks. The other day i had been to a sport shop and was checking out GN, Kook, G n M etc. Almost none of the english made $500 bats had a grain structure and pickup like my SS LE. Nike, reebok etc on the other hand had similar grains. I think we (asian market) give a lot a preference to looks. That's why most top range subcontinental bats dont have heartwood, blemishes etc. As you pointed out earlier grains and heartwood do seem to be overrated.

 

[SempreSami]

Nowt wrong with a bit of heartwood down the edge.

 

[allan2377]

I got the ton for £130 plus postage from india. the ton le is not the top of range model from ss. Ss gladiator costs above £300. so the idea of getting a 'premium range' bat for half the price of its competators got me in

Damn your SS Looks amazing.... where did u get it from... I mean website ??? Wats the weight on it.....

 

[ad2000]

@allan...Got it from onlinestockist. It is 2.8

 

[Cover Drive]

With SM one thing is for sure you will at least get a better looking bat not sure about performance.

 

[allan2377]

@allan...Got it from onlinestockist. It is 2.8

wen did u get it ??? how was their service ??? were they prompt ?? they havent replied to any of ma emails....

but tell me how do u go about things with online stockist ??? do pay them and email them the specs or ??? how does it work....

 

[Knightrider]

I would keep the woodworm.

 

[ammo]

yeah agree ^ if it works for you keep it!

 

[ad2000]

@cover drive...yea...seen that with SM bats... very few which i have seen are with any blemishes etc

 

[ad2000]

@allan... wen did u get it ??? how was their service ??? were they prompt ?? they havent replied to any of ma emails....

I got the SS LE somewhere during june. I ordered it on their website and paid using paypal. For specs, i just used he drop down options in he checkout page.

After my payment went through i mailed Ajit about my order and added a few details, as in requested number of grains (prefered 10-12) and an extra grip. Ajit mailed me back saying he would try for grains and about grip, he would add it if the total wt of the parcel does not exceed 1.5kgs (for shipping purpose).

So initially the service was good. regarding shipping time, it took 6 weeks to arrive (about 5-6 working days after was actually posted). I did have to mail a 3-4 of times during this period and the replies were sporadic. he cited relocation of SS factory as a cause and i was ok with it. When i got my parcel he did add an extra grip and my bat has abt 9 grains. So service was good just shipping time took too long. But aft reading all the compliments abt the bat i think it was worth it.

All this was just before they suspended selling activities. I did try to contact ajit for my SM bat but he dint reply. I guess there is some problem and they are not selling yet.

 

[ad2000]

@knightrider and ammo... even i am considering keeping it. I saw a pic of Ian Bell's bat somewhere else on this website and it has abt half heartwood. Saw some other pros using heartwood containing bats as well. I might keep it and use it just as a comparison with my SS LE, as in how does it perform in nets, its durability etc. Would add a complete review soon.

 

[allan2377]

it took 6 weeks to arrive (about 5-6 working days after was actually posted). [/B]QUOTE] its way too long... anywayz I've emailed Ajit regarding few queries.... if he responds I might order some softs.....

 

[ad2000]

I got the bat replaced. Here are the pics of the new bat. Both earlier and current bats ping almost same. Only thing i noticed is the the new one isn't curved as much. May be as it is hand made and would differ slightly.

 

[ammo]

ahhhhh that looks much better, have fun!

 

[SempreSami]

Can't believe you swapped it over a bit of heartwood, but the new one looks lovely too!

 

[Cover Drive]

Can't believe you swapped it over a bit of heartwood, but the new one looks lovely too!

SAme here!

In fact, this one looks better than the old one. I hope it serves you well!

Grains look lovely indeed.

 

[ad2000]

Just an update for you guys. I have played a couple of net sessions with this bat and it is lovely indeed. Much better than my ton le. This bat is highly recomended especially considering its value and plays arguablly better than my teammates $600 bats

 

[Mogambo28]

The new bat looks really nice!

 

[ad2000]

@mogambo28...thanks

 

[zeusky]

Great looking bat bro...where did you buy your woodworm from?

 

[ad2000]

i bought it from oo.com.au...